>> we have a terrific opening night film called the 10th man. it's interesting. we have 10 big nights in the festival out of 68 films from 16 different countries. we had a lot of come comedy entertaining films. stars were shining down us saying we were going to celebrate with fun. >> let's set up the opening night film. >> it's called the 10th man. it's been daniel berman who's had several at our festival in the past. he'll join us at the theatre july 21st. this is a romantic comedy about a man who returns home to help out his father who's name is usher with the jewish charity he runs in the jewish district. >> the 10th man. [ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ] >> beautiful. i know the film festival has an ark of opening night closing night and in between freedom of expression award. what's the closing film? what's the award? >> yeah, we're really excited about our closing night film. it's "called for the love of spock ." it's made by his son adam tribute to his father, also a father and son story. it's got great clips of leonard's career, juicy tidbits about jewish upbringing and how the famous sign came about. adam will join us closing night at castro. >> july 21st opening night, closing night august 7th? >> july 31st. >> great. the film festival is july 21st through august 7th. >> that's right. then goes after the castro to marine, oakland, palomalto. >> the freedom of expression night. >> it's my favorite night. i'm looking forward to this. we're honoring leonard mere with the award. we saw just another version of you. norman will join us to receive the award. he'll sit down for on-stage interview following the film with peter stein, former executive director. >> that's beautiful. so we see here, this is a part of the clip of the film we'll be seeing. >> yeah. it's a fantastic film. it's full of clips from "all in the family ," "jeffersons ," "good times ." norman made ground breaking television, cut in on issues of his times. there's a lot revealed about the history of those experiences. >> wonderful. you talked before that the general theme this year, sub theme, has been comedy. did that evolve spontaneously, deliberately? how did that happen? >> yeah, maybe it's somewhat the times we're living in now. there's a lot going on in the world. we're facing troubling issues. it's been great to see so many independent film makers bringing comedy to the forefront. comedy with a message, meaning. >> beautiful. lexi, jay, we'll take a quick break and return in a moment here on "mosaic ." good morning. welcome back to "mosaic ." i'm rabbi eric wison, glad to be your host. the jewish film festival at the castro july 29 through august 4th berkeley. august 5-7 at the christopher b smith film center. lots of wonderful places. >> yeah. it's going to be great. we're doing something new this year also. we're having a film and feast event for all the foodies in the bay area. this is a tremendous pairing. the film is in search of israeli cuisine directed by robert sherman. he'll be with us. the film is a guided tour through world of israeli cuisine. it's a mouth watering journey. we're led on the trip by michael, a celebrity chef from philadelphia. owner of a restaurant. his cookbook this year received james b award for best cookbook. we'll follow him. several local chefs will be there. lulu is coming also to cook dishes inspired by michael's cookbooks. really looking forward to that event. >> i think we have a clip. let's look at "in search of israeli cuisine ." >> i try not to defy my cuisine. once you define something, you have limit ands -- limits and boundaries to hit. >> it's about tasting new things and history. the complexity of things but also the beauty of things here. >> i've been asked so many times why exactly is israeli cuisine? >> we study french and spanish. >> israel is one of the leading forces of new cuisine in the world. >> palestinian iraq, this is russian. i don't know -- sweet potato? it's always been 5-kilometers. >> we do not choose ingredients that do not grow here. >> we create new language throughout restaurants. >> food make peace. >> when we are born and when we die, we have a little bit of dirt in our mouth which is the dirt of where we came from. if we could translate that taste to what we're making in the kitchen, that could be quite spectacular. >> just wonderful. makes you hungry. i think those who are foodies and familiar with the tell aviv will recognize those. fantastic place to go. >> going to be amazing. patrons can buy a film ticket or film and feast ticket. michael will be with us answering questionings after the film. -- questions after the film. he'll be at the event also. >> move ago long, our second -- moving along, our second film clip is what? >> i wanted to mention our centerpiece documentary is film called "robert kline still can't stop his leg ." it's a portrait about him. he will be here with us. the film is showing only once at the castro. for those of you that don't remember robert kline, he is one of the most influential comedians working today. he's up in the with richard prior and george carlin, he's been on "the tonight show ," "letterman ." he was in the third "saturday night live" in the famous cheeseburger skit. we're excited to have him here. >> wonderful. >> berkeley big night film at berkeley rep this year is called "the last laugh ." this is a film about humor and the holocaust. it's directed by fern pearlstein a stanford grad. it has mel brooks in it, silverman. they talk about the limits of humor. there's also a holocaust survivor in the film that helped structure the film. she kind of weighs in on whether something can be or can not be said, is it funny. she's open to a lot of humor. it's an extremely provocative film. >> she'll be with us. >> wonderful. let's take a look. >> when i was kid -- [ speaking foreign language ] >> and i would get a lot of laughs with humor. people after would say that's not in such good taste. i'd say, i don't care. i really don't give a sleep -- give a [ bleep ] what's in good taste. >> we're going to take a quick break and come back here on "mosaic ." [hip hop music] good morning. welcome back to "mosaic ." we welcome the 36th annual jewish film festival, first in the entire world. welcome back lexi who's the executive director of the institute and jay, the program director. welcome back. >> thank you. >> the theme you have is around people in the book. >> we feel the writers are often unsung heroes of the cinematic experience. we have a terrific debut. it's christopher b smith film screening of james' directorial debut. he wrote and produced some of the greatest cinema of our time. "the ice storm ," "crouching tiger ." "brokeback mountain ." he'll join us after the screening for q&a. phillip ross texted in and said it was the best adaptation of one of his boxes he had ever seen. that's a great credit. really wonderful story about a young man who's the son of a kosher butch her from the east coast who goes to christian college in the midwest. he deals with jewish atheist self-and clash he experiences there. >> people of a certain generation will remember phillip ross adaptation with mcgraw was that the first cinematic dappation of one of -- adaptation of one of his works? >> it was. >> and then the book. we'll look at a clip. >> great. . >> i see by your transcript you're a remarkably gifted student. first in your family ever to attend college. scholarship from your temple. >> under religious presence, you are a jewish extraction. i'm wondering why that is. >> i don't prefer to practice one religion over another. >> praying to me is preposterous. >> is it now? nonetheless, that is not what we're here to discuss. >> you're socializing enough? >> yes, i am sir. >> has he gone on any dates? >> dates. >> yes, i have, one. >> just one? >> i want to hear about your mother, father the butcher. what it's like working in a butcher shop, and what the girls were like in new york. relax. >> trust me, i'm trying. >> wonderful. we want to keep up the pace of enticing people with clip after clip. so what's the next clip we have to look at? >> the next clip is from the film called "natasha" our centerpiece narrative. it's directed by the jewish canadian writer. he has written short storyings for "the new yorker ." this is based on a collection of short stories that he wrote. he's the director of the film. it's a coming of age story. natasha is a sexually precocious step cousin of the main character. she comes to canada. it's about the escapades that ensue. it's an interesting, well made, dramatic, provocative film. >> let's take a look. ♪ >> [ speaking foreign language ] >> it's a cousin, sort of. [ speaking foreign language ] >> she's russian with foreign intents. . >> what a wonderful variety of films at the festival. we're going to take a quick break and come back in a moment here on "mosaic ." welcome back to "mosaic ." welcome back lexi and jay. every year the film festival has a cluster of israeli films. what do you have this year? i wanted to mention we have a spotlight on televisionaries. in some ways it's in honor of norman joining us. we have three israeli television series. one is false flag. it's written and created by cone who will be with us. this is an israeli thriller series. it will keep people on the edge of their seats. we'll see a clip from that. we'll have a series called "the writer ." this is the creator of arab labor. it's a meta series about a writer writing arab labor. >> wow. >> we have one other series that is season two. we're excited about that. people can watch season one on demand. >> wonderful. we'll see a clip of what? >> "false flag ." >> okay. here we go. [ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ] >> fascinating. what other israeli films do you have this year? >> we have a title from sun dance called "the settlers ." this is an interesting film given news. it's a historical film looking at settlers and historical perspective. also footage of hill top use and illegal outpost in the west banks. that will be really interesting for people to see. we have a local spotlight premiere of an american film by aaron davidman who was the former director of the traveling jewish theater company. he has a world premiere of wrestling jerusalem. he plays different characters that express different point of views about the israeli palestinian crisis. we have mr. gaga which is a lighter fare. this is the audience award winner by the southwest film festival. it features choreographer who developed a technique called gaga. it's a dance language popular in israel. the film maker will be joining us. it's a really inspiring dance film and great title as well. >> thank you so much for being with us with all these wonderful clips from the jewish film festival. we'll say good-bye and leave you with this clip from mr. gaga. again! again! again! again! again? again! again! general mills is removing artificial flavors and colors from our cereals. so you can love cereal... creamy swirls of pure indulgence. silky sifts of total transcendence. tempting accents of sheer pleasure. introducing "unicorn whispers." this should be the name. or something more like "golden gold." or maybe, "mmmmmm mmhmm." but, with 20% of your daily fiber, its actually fiber one. so delicious, it should have another name. love to hear from you. go to facebook dot com slash bay comment to the page . welcome to "bay sunday ." if you have a show idea, we'd love to hear from you. go to facebook and comment to the page. today we'll have a conversation with the bailiff from the popular show "judge judy" about his work. we'll talk to the executive director of glbt about historical society and his work. please welcome the author of "seeking jordan ," dr. matthew mckay. thank you for joining us. >> glad to be with you. >> tell us about writing this book. what happened in your life? >> eight years ago my son who was then 23