Two Biggies this Week

Just like Chanukah, the Festival of Lights that this year takes place starting early next month, the Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival lasts for eight days, at least in its new format of expanded programming. But there are no miracles involved. The SBJFF has been growing since its founding years ago by Barbara Greenleaf, who will be honored at a VIP reception on opening night as part of the fest’s 18 programs featuring world-class international and independent documentaries, dramas, comedies, and shorts from Israel, Europe, Canada, and the U.S., plus filmmaker Q&As, panel discussions, live performances, 

The festival celebrates the power of storytelling over a wide span of genres, with most of the movies never having been previously shown in Santa Barbara, save for one of the closing night screenings, the locally-produced Relatively Normal. The film premiered at SBIFF 2026, and features a talkback with filmmakers Amy Wendel, Jill Levinson, and Allison Chase Coleman moderated by Cheri Steinkellner following the screening. 

Among other titles screening during the November 1-8 festival are My Underground Mother, Nuremberg 45, For the Love of a Woman, Book of Ruth, UNraveling UNRWA, The Long Journey Home, and Bella, plus shorts programs and more. Two documentaries may be of special interest, including We Met at Grossinger’s, a feature-length documentary from Paula Eiselt (Aftershock; 93Queen) that takes a joyfully nostalgic and deeply immersive dive into the famous hotel resort during the golden age of the Borscht Belt in the Catskills. Meanwhile, Dust Bowls & Jewish Souls: Another Side of Woody Guthrie, which was directed, written and produced by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Steven Pressman (50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus), which explores Guthrie’s lesser-known immersion in Jewish culture and faith in 1940s New York and his deep bond with his mother-in-law, prominent Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt. 

Speaking of SBIFF, the Jewish Film Fest represents the first festival outside of SBIFF’s own to take up residency at the recently refurbished McHurley Film Center downtown, bringing screenings to one of finest screens in town with upgraded sound, seating and other amenities.

SBJFF is organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara, which uses net proceeds to support its cultural programming, Portraits of Survival Holocaust education, and social support services. 

Visit www.sbjewishfilmfestival.org for the schedule, film descriptions, and passes

The 27th Annual Ojai Film Festival runs just six days, November 4-9, but the still-growing fest in the mountain village 35 miles from Santa Barbara will be screening almost 75 films from more than 30 countries at multiple venues over the span. The fest opens with the world premiere of the short musical documentary American Mosaic, which features Joe Sohm’s photography collating shots of all 50 states with a score by Peter Boyer, hosted by actor/activist Martin Sheen in person at Libbey Bowl. The official Opening Night Film on Friday night boasts the U.S. premiere of Everybody Digs Bill Evans, Grant Gee’s biopic starring Anders Danielsen Lie as the jazz legend at Chaparral Auditorium. 

Of local note, longtime Santa Barbara Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges and his brother Beau Bridges reunite in person for a special screening of Oscar-nominated classic The Fabulous Baker Boys back at Libbey Bowl on Thursday, while Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone receive the Artists of Distinction Award accompanied by a 10th-anniversary screening of The Boss. There’s a special screening on Saturday at the Ojai Art Center of Paul Schrader’s not yet released The Basics of Philosophy, starring Jack Huston and Sofia Boutella in a story with a spiritual and moral crisis triggered by someone from the protagonist’s past. Industry insiders might enjoy Sunday’s Closing Night film at Chaparral Auditorium, In Memoriam, directed by Rob Burnett and starring Marc Maron as a vain, 60-year-old actor with a terminal cancer diagnosis who becomes fixated on securing a spot in the Academy Awards’ “In Memoriam” montage. 

Visit www.ojaifilmfestival.com/2026 for all the details and passes

Film Festival Fever, Future Forward 

The film festival calendar gets even more crowded over the next two weeks, with four different entries, although two of them are a single day and the others just one weekend each. The 8th Nature Track Film Festival has scaled down to one night and relocated to the Alcazar Theatre in Carpinteria on November 5, when the single feature is Frost Without Snow and Ice by Norwegian filmmaker Asgeir Helgestad. There will also bea special compilation of “Bring Back the Wild” films by Santa Barbara filmmaker Michael Love –recipient of the 2026 NatureTrack Outdoor Icon Award – as well as a lineup of other short films. 

Details at https://naturetrackfilmfestival.org

Conversely, the Wild & Free Film Festival enters its second year with a larger slate that expands on its mission to present diverse adventure and environmentally focused films from around the world that may defy genre and veer into fiction. Forty films spanning six features and 34 shorts from 12 countries (including four world premieres and three U.S. premieres!) will screen November 6-8 at NatureTrack’s old home of Camino Real Cinemas in Goleta, alongside special events including an innovative Walking Panel at Ellwood Mesa. More next week.  

Visit www.wildandfreefilm.org