Sacramento's premier venue for film festivals did it again, as more than a thousand people showed up at The Crest Theatre to attend the two-day Jewish Film Festival. The 12th annual Spring festival held unique, humorous and powerful films from around the world that focus on the Jewish experience.

This year's festival, Saturday Feb. 7 and Sunday Feb. 8, was once again run by festival cofounders Margi Park-Landau, volunteer coordinator and Sid Heberger, Crest Theater manager.

The Sacramento Friends of the Jewish Film Festival, a 60-member group, supported the festival, helped to "bring things that we might not be able to have just on ticket sales alone," Heberger said.

Saturday night at 7 p.m. attendees watched the film The Secrets, a story of two young women who encounter a mysterious woman who forces them to question their lifelong-held beliefs. It was followed by a 7-minute short film entitled A Trip To Prague.

At 10 p.m. a handful of "Not So Kosher" comedy shorts were screened to a younger audience, which stayed until the festival's late end. The shorts included Circumcise Me, the story of American-born Yisrael Campbell, who converted to Judaism three times before becoming one of Israel's premier comedians, Let My People Grow, Getting There is Half the Fun and Jewno.

Sunday's program was longer, featuring the three full-length films Praying With Lior, Love and Dance and Blessed is the Match, followed by the Academy Award-nominated short film Toyland.

Festival co-founder Park-Landau said that she and Heberger collaborated to choose the films, which are meant to target a diverse variety of people. "We try to have a little romance, history, shmaltz. We have exit surveys to help us with feedback."

"The festival," she added, "is a partnership between a faith-based nonprofit coordinating with a non-faith-based for-profit business. People who attend care about film and art in general. The festival attendees attend while "disregarding race, religious fervor, income and gender."

Park-Landau estimated that 1,500 people come to the festival every year. Next year the festival will be held at the Crest on Feb. 6 and 7, 2010.