Our Mission

Boston Jewish Film celebrates the richness of the Jewish experience through film and media. Throughout the year, BJF engages and inspires the community to explore the full spectrum of Jewish life, values, and culture.

Our History

Boston Jewish Film offers the finest in film programming, education, and conversation to audiences across the Greater Boston community. Created in 1989, as the Boston Jewish Film Festival and founded by filmmaker Michal Goldman, we are now the largest film-based organization in New England, welcoming more than 15,000 annually.

Today, the Boston Jewish Film Festival has become a destination for the Boston Jewish Film Festivalcommunity to get together and talk about international award-winning films on Jewish topics and themes. In our 30 years, we’ve shown films to hundreds of thousands of filmgoers. Now presenting more than 60 screenings at venues throughout Greater Boston, the Boston Jewish Film Festival has welcomed 300,000 audience members. Films that have had premieres at the Boston Jewish Film Festival include Academy Award-winners such as The Pianist (2002), Nowhere in Africa (2002), and Son of Saul (2015).

The Festival has grown to include a variety of arts and media – from music performances and dance to live podcast recordings. The Festival also prides itself on its in-depth post-screening conversations with filmmakers and other special guests from around the world. The Festival also presents screenings throughout the year.

You may have noticed more great Jewish film programs now happening throughout the year. Perhaps you attended our Summer Cinematheque, our premiere of Foxtrot, or our humor event with William Boston Jewish Film 360Novak earlier in 2018. All of these programs were created to deepen our community’s connection to Jewish film and culture and are now part of our Boston Jewish Film 360 program. Click here to learn more.

Our youth outreach program brings film screenings and filmmaking to local schools and community centers. Through screenings, discussions, and hands-on filmmaking Boston Jewish Film Studiocourses, our students Go Beyond the Screen. They discover other cultures, learn to read the language of film, and master the scripting, camera, and editing skills that enable them to tell their own stories on screen. Click here to learn more.

The Boston Jewish Film School Initiative to Combat Antisemitism (SITCA) uses the power of film to help students recognize and counter antisemitism. Our curators work with teachers to select a film best suited to their 7-12 grade students. Filmmakers and other relevant guests—including holocaust survivors—add valuable context. We provide preparatory materials to help promote meaningful conversation. Students connect to stories in movies that often feature people their own age. And through this connection, they learn how to respond to antisemitism, bigotry, and hate in their schools and communities and in the public square. Click here to learn more.

Boston Jewish Film was proud to host ReelAbilities Boston from 2012 through 2021. ReelAbilities Boston was for us an act of tikkun olam—the Jewish spiritual commitment to heal the world. We will continue to honor that spirit and advocacy in our festival programming and in special events throughout the year.