About the Spokane Jewish Film Festival

The Spokane Jewish Film Festival (SJFF) is Spokane's annual celebration of Jewish life, culture, history, and art on screen. Hosted by Spokane Area Jewish Family Services (SAJFS), the film festival also serves as the organization's biggest fundraiser, which supports SAJFS’s work providing supportive services to low-income families, people with disabilities, and seniors in our region, regardless of religious affiliation.

SJFF started more than two decades ago as a modest, weekend-long event primarily for the local Jewish community. Since then, it has grown into the Inland Northwest's largest Jewish cultural event, attracting broad community engagement. Today, rather than a film festival for Spokane's Jewish community, SJFF is a Jewish film festival for the Spokane community, providing a valuable way for Jewish and non-Jewish community members alike to come together, talk, and learn. Whether you're Jewish or not, or whatever topics interest you, SJFF offers something for everyone through diverse films on a variety of topics from around the world.

In 2024, SJFF celebrated its 20th anniversary with a sold-out opening night gala, and in 2025 had the honor to debut the locally produced documentary Carla the Rescuer, about Holocaust survivor and Spokane resident Carla Peperzak, through three sold-out showings.

SJFF strives to provide audiences with an engaging, kaleidoscopic view of Jewish life and culture, uplift important stories, preserve history, and challenge audiences to think about different perspectives and experiences. Films are selected by a volunteer board, composed of both SAJFS board members and members of the community, who screen dozens of films to select the annual lineup and also work to support the engaging programming around screenings.