- San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 2005: Screenings include the German box office hit Go for Zucker!, in addition to Hollywood classics written, directed, or starring Jewish talent targeted by the far-right House Un-American Activities Committee.
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 2005: German box office hit Go for Zucker!, the Hollywood Blacklist’s Jewish Targets
The 25th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF), which bills itself as the largest of its kind in the United States, will be held throughout the Bay Area in late July and early August. (See further below more detailed info on dates and locations.)
Among this year’s SFJFF highlights is the U.S. premiere of Dani Levy’s box office hit and multiple German Film Award contender Go for Zucker! / Alles auf Zucker!, starring Henry Hübchen and Hannelore Elsner.
Also: A series of titles showcasing the work of Jewish talent blacklisted during the House Un-American Activities Committee’s reign of fascist terror in the post-World War II years. Jews, in particular, were singled out for political persecution by American right-wingers.
Hollywood Blacklist discussion panel
Hollywood Blacklist scholar Paul Buhle of Brown University will moderate a panel that will include blacklisted writers Walter Bernstein (Fail Safe, The Front) and Norma Barzman (author of the original story for the psychological thriller The Locket, starring Laraine Day, which is part of the festival’s program); in addition to Dan Bessie, whose father, screenwriter Alvah Bessie (credits include the Errol Flynn star vehicles Northern Pursuit and Objective, Burma!), was one of the Hollywood Ten.
In the words of Festival Program Director Nancy Fishman, the panel will offer a “once in a lifetime opportunity to talk to people who lived through that period.”
SFJFF dates & locations
This year’s edition of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival comprises a total of 49 feature films, documentaries, and shorts from 15 countries.
The festival will run from July 21–28 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco; July 31–Aug. 6 at the Roda Theatre in Berkeley; July 31–Aug. 4 at the Mountain View Century Cinema 16 in Mountain View; and Aug. 6–8 at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.
“San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 2005: Hollywood Blacklist” notes
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival website.
Hannelore Elsner and Henry Hübchen Go for Zucker! image: Filme Bayerischer Rundfunk Arte.
“San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 2005: Hollywood Blacklist” last modified in October 2025.