The 35th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival hits the Smith Rafael Film Center this Friday, August 7, through Sunday, August 9—the art line-up is impressive

It’s been 35 years since her death and radical socialite, philanthropist, art collector and personality Peggy Guggenheim is still a subject of fascination. Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s new documentary, “Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict,” opens the Marin portion of the 35th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and screens Friday, August 7 at 12:30 PM at the Smith Rafael Film Center. Along with Guggenheim’s most important and interesting artworks, the doc features clips from recently re-discovered audio tapes of Guggenheim in conversation with her authorized biographer, Jacqueline Bograd Weld, and film clips with artists Jackson Pollack and Willem de Kooning. Photo: SFJFF

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF), the first, the largest, and arguably the best in the proliferation of Jewish film fests, returns to Marin’s Smith Rafael Film Center Friday afternoon with a line-up of 15 new films showcasing the best in independent Jewish film.  All of the films have been selected from the 120+ film line-up that has been playing in San Francisco, Oakland and Palo Alto since July 23.  The Marin segment has been curated with our North of the Golden Gate viewing preferences in mind—great story-telling, thought-provoking content on current issues and art.  Three of the films are art related and with fabulous storylines and seem well worth the drive and time spent indoors.

The festival kicks off Friday at 12:30 with Lisa Vreeland’s acclaimed documentary, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict (2015), which made its California premiere at the festival.

And on Saturday, at 12:30 PM, Yari Wolinsky and Cary Wolinsky’s Raise the Roof (2014) tells the inspiring story of the complete architectural restoration of a decimated 18^th century wooden synagogue in Gwozdziec, Poland by a team of committed volunteer artisans from around the globe who use original methods and tools to restore the churches elaborate exterior and immense and complex interior frescoes.

On Saturday, at 6:20 PM, French director François Margolin’s docu-drama, The Art Dealer (“L’Antiquaire”) (2014), journeys through a family’s secrets and European history.

In French director François Margolin’s “The Art Dealer” (“L’Antiquaire”) (2014), Anna Sigalevitch portrays a Jewish woman who becomes obsessed with the provenance of a painting allegedly created by French artist, Jacques-Laurent Agasse (1767-1849), one of Vernet’s protégés. Her research takes her back to her own grandfather’s art collection and the German occupation of France. The story is based on a true story involving the Seligmann family and patriarch art dealer and antiquarian Jacques Seligmann who ran famed galleries in Paris and New York and fostered American interest in European art. The film screens at the 35th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, at the Smith Rafael Film Center on Saturday, August 8, at 6:20 PM. Photo: SFJFF

On Saturday, at 6:20 PM, French director François Margolin’s docu-drama, The Art Dealer (“L’Antiquaire”) (2014), uses the story of a painting to journey through a famous family’s secrets and European history.

Details:  Screenings at the Smith Rafael Film Center start Friday, August 7, at 2:30 PM and run through Sunday, 10 PM.  Click here for complete program and ticket information.  A Marin Pass, good for all screenings in Marin, is $100 for members Jewish Film Institute / $120 General Public.  The Smith Rafael Film Center is located at 1118 4^th Street, San Rafael.

Festival Box Office Hours: The Festival Box Office for the Smith Rafael Film Center screenings will be next to the venue’s regular box office and easy to find.  It will open 1 hour prior to the first SFJFF screening of the day and will remain open throughout the day until 15 minutes after the last screening begins.   Orders set to will call will be available at the venue and on the day of the first screening in the order. If all tickets were purchased on the same order, they will all be available for pick up at the first screening in the order; if tickets were purchased on separate orders, they will be available or pick up at the first screening of each order.  Marin Passes will be available for pick up at the Rafael Film Center on August 9th.