Welcome to the 20th Annual Portland Jewish Film Festival, produced by the Northwest Film Center and co-presented with the Institute for Judaic Studies. While the Festival specifically celebrates the diversity of Jewish history, culture, and identity, we hope that these films and the stories they tell resonate beyond their settings and speak to experiences and issues that confront our common humanity.

Special thanks to our sponsors: The Harold and Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation, Cedar Sinai Park, Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, Mittleman Jewish Community Center, Jewish Family & Child Service, Oregon/Israel Fund of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation, Oregon Holocaust Resource Center, Portland Jewish Academy, THA Architecture, Inc., J Street Portland, and Carolyn Weinstein.

Thanks to our media sponsor Oregon Jewish Life Magazine.

FESTIVAL PASSES are available online now. Click here to purchase yours today! PJFF Passes will be honored at all NWFC screenings during the Festival (April 15-29).

Studio Ghibli, founded in Tokyo in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, is one of the most successful and well-respected animation studios in the world. Cultivating a creative force of talented directors, animators, and storytellers under the revered brilliance of Miyazaki and Takahata, Studio Ghibli’s films have been critically praised for their originality, dazzling animation, and epic storytelling and loved by audiences of all ages throughout the world. We are pleased to present this opportunity to see these great films on the big screen on new 35mm prints made especially for this retrospective.

All films are in Japanese with English subtitles unless otherwise noted.

Special thanks to community partners ASIFA Portland, Fashionbuddha, and Portland Japanese Garden.

Buy a series pass to see all 13 films.

Our Northwest Tracking programs showcase the work of independent filmmakers living and working in the Northwest—Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington—whose work reflects the vibrant cinematic culture of the region. Whether presenting single artist retrospectives, new features, documentaries, or inspired collections of short works, Northwest Tracking offers testimony to the creativity and talent in our flourishing media arts community.

In celebration of the Film Center’s 40th anniversary, we also present Essential Northwest, an ongoing series featuring vintage works by Northwest filmmakers. If you want to know what Northwest filmmaking is all about and what has come before, these are films, filmmakers, and history you need to know.

Media sponsor: Bear Deluxe - Orlo