Cultures in Transition
Film Festival brings Asian perspective to Jewish culture
by Andrew Huang

Asians have a lot in common with the Jewish -- both have cultural traditions that span millenniums; both developed religions during agricultural phases, and have disseminated their faiths throughout the world; both suffered through the torrents of the colonialism and nationalism of the past two centuries; both seek to adapt to the capitalistic order while attempting to consolidate with their cultural past; both have migrated to the America in the quest for new identities.

Exile, diaspora, and the Exodus -- these processes shape the meaning of an “otherness” into the Asian and Jewish identity. And this month, the 19th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival at San Francisco’s Castro Theater and Berkeley’s UC Theater brings together 37 films from 13 countries -- including two films that portray the seemingly unlikely yet logical confluence of Asian and Jewish cultures.

In The Port of Last Resort (July 21, 1:30 p.m., Castro; July 25, 12:45 p.m., UC) directors Joan Grossman and Paul Rosdy build a deeply engrossing portrait of Shanghai in the 1930s, when the city became a haven for refugees fleeing from European Nazism. Pulling together interviews with four Jewish refugees, home movies, photos, newsreels and personal letters, this film recounts the extraordinary adventure of how Jews from Germany and Italy escaped the burgeoning fascism to find a sanctuary in Shanghai.

The rare film footage reveals Shanghai as a seductive, cosmopolitan city, where the Chinese working-class “coolie” intermingle with the foreign refugees. Among the interviewed subjects are A. J. Storfer, the publisher of Freud and Fred Fields and a budding journalist who became familiar with Shanghai’s legendary night life. In what could be described as anti-Schindler’s List immediacy, the survivors unveil their stories in tete-a-tete interviews that take us back to their adventures.

Serving as the backdrop to this Duma-esque drama is the vividly portrayed scenery of international politics where the feuding Chinese and Japanese made room for the Jews. In disclosing a Japanese official document, it is stated that the Japanese allowed Jews into Shanghai because they needed “foreign capital and do not wish to offend America.”

At the end of the film, one narrator reveals her emotional state about “going home, to America,” a country she had never set foot upon all her life. This poignant statement bespeaks the collective desire of generations of immigrants making their pilgrimage to the new land. As elusive as the American Dream, The Port of Last Resort encapsulates the insurmountable human desire to adapt in a century jam-packed with battling ideologies -- aristocracy versus democracy, capitalism versus communism -- and the individuals caught in between these warring forces.

Making its world premiere at this year’s festival is Jews and Buddhism: Belief Amended, Faith Revealed (July 18, 1:30 p.m., Castro; July 25, 3 p.m.; UC) which examines the similarities and differences of Judaism and Buddhism, the two single archetypal religions. Directed by Bay Area filmmaker Bill Chayes and narrated by Sharon Stone, this intelligent film takes a timely look at American Jews’ surging interest in Buddhism.

Taking pains to contextualize the current atmosphere for reforming religions, the film explains how Judaism has turned from its spiritual beginning into a more political movement that has supported the founding of Israel and the establishment of social networks for American Jews in the post-Holocaust era. Caught between the pressure for assimilation in America and forces of political progress, Jews growing up after World War II often find spiritual value in turning toward Buddhist meditation.

Challenging the usual notion of religions being rigid and dogmatic, the film’s research shows that both Buddhism and Judaism have transformed and adapted to local cultures. Featured in the film are meetings between religious leaders -- including a meeting between Dalai Lama and leaders of Jewish communities in New Jersey as well as India, and a dialogue between Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and the Burmese prime minister on the TV show Small World. Illuminating, insightful and uplifting, this film heartily offers resolution to any Jews or Asian Americans who have ever felt the confusion of straddling between two cultures.

Jews and Buddhism screens with Keiko Ibi’s Academy Award-winning short, The Personals. Screenings will be held at the Castro Theater, 429 Castro, San Francisco (415-621-6120); and at the UC Theater, 2036 University, Berkeley (510-843-6267). Tickets are $7.50, $6 for students and seniors. For tickets or a full festival schedule, call 415-552-3378 or visit the festival Web site at http://www.sfjff.org.