About Seattle Jewish Film Festival
The Seattle Jewish Film Festival (f.1995) is one of the largest and longest-running film festivals in the Pacific Northwest and one of the largest Jewish film festivals in the country. A cornerstone program of the Stroum Jewish Community Center (SJCC), SJFF brings people together from across Washington State—and beyond virtually—to celebrate and showcase the vibrancy and diversity of local and global Jewish life through cinema to build connections, illuminate perspectives, increase understanding, and offer experiences that amplify profound Jewish experiences for everyone.
SJFF serves as a vibrant cultural gathering place–fostering conversations, connections, and understanding across backgrounds while deepening Jewish connections for all.
Program Highlights
In 2025, the Seattle Jewish Film Festival presents 30 films from 12 countries over two weeks. SJFF’s 30th anniversary lineup proudly includes 22 feature films and seven shorts, five West Coast premieres, five Washington State premieres, and ten Northwest premieres. In-person events feature Q+A’s with directors, live music, food and fanfare, a sing-along and even costume prizes. Many films can only be seen in person, but SJFF still offers many virtual films and extended streaming access for pass holders wanting to take it all in. SJFF shines a light on global Jewish and Israeli talent and thought-leadership, illuminating powerful stories that shine through history’s darkest moments and celebrate the triumphs of Jewish life, culture, and cinema for everyone.
SJFF features a variety of fan-favorite, in-person events, including Opening Night Festivities, Sunday Brunch, Sephardic and Israeli Spotlights, a Silent Film + Live Score, and Gay Gezunt! LGBTQ+ Spotlight. This year, two thematic series debut: “Music Mavens” and “Pearls of Wisdom,” and we celebrate a local Spokane hero and Holocaust survivor.
At our home venue at the Stroum Jewish Community Center, fans enjoy our J Cafe concessions inclusing wine and beer before watching in our our 370-seat, state-of-the-art venue. SJFF offers many programs with food, fanfare, receptions, and happy hours. We provide free and low-cost tickets for seniors 65+, including a discounted Friday Matinee, and we provide free tickets to nonprofits that serve low-income, survivor, senior, and special needs clients and communities. No one is turned away for lack of funds, but we ask that you go through one of our partner agencies that distribute tickets on our behalf, such as Kline Galland | The Summit, Social Services, or Jewish Family Service; or contact our Box Office for assistance.
Venues
In addition to screening films at our state-of-the-art Dolby Digital Barco cinema at the SJCC on Mercer Island (370 seats), we screen festival and year-round films throughout the greater Seattle region, in downtown Seattle, Ballard, Queen Anne, Walla Walla, and on the Eastside. SJFF offers select films virtually through our online delivery platform with guest conversations live on Zoom and recordings made available on our SJFF and SJCC On Demand YouTube playlists (@StroumJCC), allowing broader opportunities to engage, audience access, and wider reach.
SJFF Awards
- Audience Choice Awards: Attendees cast ballots to decide Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Shorts.
- REEL and REAL Difference Awards: Every other year, SJFF honors a distinguished filmmaker with the REEL Difference Award and an arts advocate/leader with our REAL Difference Award. The first REAL Difference Award recipient was Festival Founding Chair Deborah Rosen. Other past recipients include Academy Award-nominated German director Michael Verhoeven z”l, Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis, documentary filmmaker Aviva Kempner, filmmaker and Webby Awards founder Tiffany Shlain, producer Michael Benaroya of Benaroya Pictures, Israeli filmmaker Dani Menkin, longtime festival champion and former presenting sponsor Martin Selig, and actor Sasson Gabai.
- Golden Or (“Light” in Hebrew) Jury Prize for Best Independent Film: Every other year, starting in 2020, a distinguished panel of jurists (past awardees and industry professionals) will watch and select one film from our lineup for this award. The jury will also select a local nonprofit to receive a complimentary community partner film sponsorship (value $400) and free tickets to share with their constituents as a way to engage and benefit their constituents. For example, in 2020, the first Golden Or Award was presented to PICTURE OF HIS LIFE, and the nonprofit Youth in Focus was selected as the community partner.
