Jewish Film Festival — 18 days, 4 venues, lots of history:
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the world’s first and largest such festival.
Even in the Bay Area, one of the globe’s top film festival destinations, the Jewish Film Festival impresses with its ambition (five venues in four counties: San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara and Marin) and its length (18 days: July 23 to Aug. 9). With opening-night events in San Francisco, Palo Alto and Oakland, there’s more than enough film, food and music to go around.
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Carvalho’s Journey: Solomon Carvalho was a Baltimore Jewish daguerreotypist and artist who went on an ill-fated expedition with John C. Fremont. Not just a travelogue but a look at how American Jews lived and were perceived in the 19th century. (2 p.m. July 28, Castro; 4 p.m. July 29, CineArts; 2:40 p.m. Aug. 4, California)