San Diego Jewish Film Festival celebrates diversity, human rights and freedom of expression

San Diego is home to a number of niche film festivals, including one of the oldest and largest Jewish film festivals in the world, according to producers. Now in its 16th year, the San Diego Jewish Film Festival, which opens Feb. 9, spans 11 days and features 38 full-length films, shorts and documentaries.

The festival aims to showcase the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world, and this season celebrates diversity, human rights and freedom of expression through a variety of dramatic and comedic feature films and documentaries. Since GLBT issues relate directly to matters of diversity, human rights and freedom of expression, and are relevant to every culture, it’s no surprise that they find a voice here.

One such film is Ilil Alexander’s debut Keep Not Silent, which documents the lives of three Orthodox Jewish women in Jerusalem. These pious women are committed to their religion, their families and their communities. They are also lesbians struggling to express both their religious and sexual identities. The three women deal with the duality in different manners. But each faces their situation with courage and compassion in a rigid and sometimes inhospitable society, with the help of a support group called the Ortho-Dykes.

For 20 years, Miriam-Esther fights her attraction to women to maintain the honor of her husband and 10 children. In a very different story, Ruth’s husband, Boaz, permits his wife to see her female lover regularly. Boaz even claims that the arrangement has improved their marriage. Yudith, a rabbi’s daughter, openly declares her sexuality, but her rebellion brings her pain. Despite her parents’ rejection, she and her partner hold a public commitment ceremony with support from siblings and friends.

It took filmmaker Alexander four years to make the documentary, and she faced many challenges along the way, not the least of which was finding a way to conceal the identity of her subjects while maintaining an emotional connection to the audience.

“Eventually, with her creative artistic ability, Ilil figured [out] a way that I could participate in the film without being recognized,” said Miriam-Esther in an e-mail from her home in Israel. “She used the medium of a Web cam, which also as serves a double-layered meaning; the computer has been the main medium of lesbian and gay Orthodox Jews to find support and community. It has been a way to remain anonymous while finding people to trust at the same time.”

Miriam-Esther, which is not her real name, has hidden her identity out of fear of the backlash from her tight-knit community. Still, she felt it was important to participate in Alexander’s film. The experience, she said, has been empowering, and gives her confidence about helping others who might be exploring their sexuality or Judaism.

“Most every Orthodox gay or lesbian has felt alone, thinking they are the only Orthodox lesbian/gay person,” she said. “This has caused much hardship, ranging from feelings of isolation to depression and even suicide due to lack of options, in order to combat the despair that feeling alone in confusion can bring.

“I think that it is important that the issue is brought to the attention of the community as has been done with articles, books and films.”

For Miriam-Esther, reconciling her faith with her sexuality has been “a very long process.”

“Faith includes uncertainty throughout the spiritual search, but it is faith that G-d gave me, and what he wants me to use for my work in this world. Whether I or anyone else understands that is not necessary,” she said. “Judaism asks of us to know ourselves, to use ourselves (both body and soul) as agents for positive use in this world; I consider it a privilege to be part of such a broad and deep spiritual practice.”

But the two sides of her seem to be no longer at odds. Miriam-Esther just “came out” at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival last year, to the audience, in her first public appearance with the film. The 40-something grandmother will also attend the San Diego Jewish Film Festival screening as a guest speaker.

Filmmaker Alexander was inspired to create the film following a suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem, when a woman’s body remained unclaimed because her Orthodox family had excommunicated her after discovering she was a lesbian. Shocked and moved by the story, Alexander set out to discover more about the woman, which eventually led her to the Ortho-Dykes.

Alexander is neither Orthodox nor lesbian, but her sensitivity toward her film subjects and their concerns earned their trust. One woman’s husband even agreed to go on camera to speak candidly about allowing his wife to meet with her lesbian lover twice weekly.

“After speaking with Ilil Alexander a number of times,” said Miriam-Esther, “it was clear that, although she is a secular woman, she was interested in a collaborative effort to create a film which would bring our inner world, as we experience it, to the outside world.”

And thousands of miles away, in a different country, facing many of the same challenges, we could all use a little understanding.

Keep Not Silent screens with A Different War on Sunday, Feb. 19, at 4:00 p.m. at AMC La Jolla Theaters. Single ticket prices are $10.25 for Jewish Community Center members and $12.25 for nonmembers. Festival passes are also available. For tickets and information, call the JCC box office at (858) 362-1348 or visit www.lfjcc.org. The AMC La Jolla is the festival’s primary venue, with the Landmark, Ultra Star, Hazard Center and JCC theaters offering additional programming.