Film Schedule

JFF screening

Tuesday, April 8 1 & 7pm

Janis Ian: Breaking Silence

114 mins Documentary

Janis Ian: Breaking Silence chronicles the remarkable journey of the Jewish singer-songwriter Janis Ian, beginning with her teen years when she was a precocious member of the vibrant Greenwich Village folk scene and jammed late at night with such legends as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. In the mid-70s, she ascends to major stardom with such hits as “Stars,” about the transient nature of fame (covered by Nina Simone and Cher) and “Jesse,” the wistful lament of a lonely person waiting for their lover to return home (covered to great success by the R&B singer Roberta Flack and Folk icon Joan Baez).

Featuring interviews with Ian’s extraordinary community of friends and collaborators, including folk luminaries Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, and Tom Paxton, as well as Hollywood greats Lily Tomlin, Jean Smart, and Laurie Metcalf. Her body of work has earned her an honored place in folk and pop music history and continues to influence new generations of artists and activists. While Janis Ian embraces her Jewish upbringing, upholds feminist values, and advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, her story and music transcend the boundaries of identity politics, making her career a universal story relatable by all.

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Friday, April 11 1 & 7pm

Janis Ian: Breaking Silence

114 mins Documentary

Janis Ian: Breaking Silence chronicles the remarkable journey of the Jewish singer-songwriter Janis Ian, beginning with her teen years when she was a precocious member of the vibrant Greenwich Village folk scene and jammed late at night with such legends as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. In the mid-70s, she ascends to major stardom with such hits as “Stars,” about the transient nature of fame (covered by Nina Simone and Cher) and “Jesse,” the wistful lament of a lonely person waiting for their lover to return home (covered to great success by the R&B singer Roberta Flack and Folk icon Joan Baez).

Featuring interviews with Ian’s extraordinary community of friends and collaborators, including folk luminaries Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, and Tom Paxton, as well as Hollywood greats Lily Tomlin, Jean Smart, and Laurie Metcalf. Her body of work has earned her an honored place in folk and pop music history and continues to influence new generations of artists and activists. While Janis Ian embraces her Jewish upbringing, upholds feminist values, and advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, her story and music transcend the boundaries of identity politics, making her career a universal story relatable by all.

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Tuesday, April 29 1 & 7pm

Resistance: They Fought Back

97 mins Documentary

“People have this myth stuck in their heads that Jews went to their deaths like sheep to the slaughter. But this is where the real story begins…Jews did not go as sheep to the slaughter… They fought back.” Professor Richard Freund

We’ve all heard of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, but most people have no idea how widespread and prevalent Jewish resistance to Nazi barbarism was. Instead, it’s widely believed “Jews went to their deaths like sheep to the slaughter.” Filmed in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Israel, and the U.S., Resistance – They Fought Back provides a much-needed corrective to this myth of Jewish passivity. There were uprisings in ghettos large and small, rebellions in death camps, and thousands of Jews fought Nazis in the forests. Everywhere in Eastern Europe, Jews waged campaigns of non-violent resistance against the Nazis.

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Date: April 8, 11 & 29, 2025

Location: Rialto Cinemas

6868 McKinley Street, Sebastopol, CA 95472

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