Once Upon My Mother

  • Friday, Mar 27

Showtimes updated on Tuesday evenings
Legend
OCOpen Captioned
Special Content
35mm
SFSensory Friendly

Once Upon My Mother

Introduction from festival curator David Schwartz

Members Get Early Access During JFF Pre-Sale
JBFC member pre-sale opens Tuesday, February 17 at noon.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, February 20 at noon.

​​“God couldn’t be everywhere, so he created mothers,” wrote Rudyard Kipling. Add the word “Jewish” before mothers, and you’ll get a taste of Once Upon My Mother, Ken Scott’s vibrant new adaptation of Roland Perez’s memoir about his childhood and coming of age with a clubfoot, and the miraculous care he received from his mother Esther, determined against everyone’s advice that Roland will lead an extraordinary life. A lively and moving film set in Paris in the world of a Sephardic family from the 1960s to the 2010s, Once Upon My Mother tells an incredibly true story that surprisingly focuses on Roland’s obsession with the singer and actress Sylvie Vartan.

“The movie belongs to Leïla Bekhti, a young actress who truly captures the essence of this kind of over-the-top but caring matriarch…her Esther Perez truly belongs in the pantheon of on-screen Jewish mothers.”
Hannah Brown, The Jerusalem Post

This film is part of the following initiatives:

This film is part of the Jewish Film Festival 2026 series.



Coming Soon

Oscar Shorts 2026

Opens 2/20

Pillion

Opens 2/20

Midwinter Break

Opens 2/20

The Jacob Burns Film Center is proud to receive generous support from:

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