From 'Howl' to Hamas

James Franco in Howl

James Franco's cross-platform omnipresence – in films, viral videos, daytime programming, and nighttime awards shows – is already well documented, but I'm thinking we might need to codify one of his most popular niches, the film festival. Call it the Law of Franco Festival Ubiquity? In fact, one of Franco's recent films, the inventive Allen Ginsberg riff Howl, headlines the ninth annual Austin Jewish Film Festival, which runs April 9-15. Other festival highlights include This Is Sodom, a biblical-times slapstick comedy that was a blockbuster in its native Israel; Budrus, about a nonviolent opposition movement that improbably united Israelis and West Bank Palestinians, Hamas and Fatah, to push back against a proposed Israeli security border that would have decimated native olive trees and a cemetery; Andrew Wainrib's animated documentary short "Cohen on the Bridge," about the 1976 terrorist hijacking of Air France Flight 139 to Uganda and the following hostage liberation by Israeli commandos (with Wainrib in attendance at the screening); and a tribute to longtime AJFF attendee Alex Sole, who made his acting debut at the age of 95 in Steve Mims' short "Honorarium" (see "Honor Roll," April 9, 2010) and who passed away in November 2010.

The Austin Jewish Film Festival runs April 9-15, primarily at the Regal Arbor Cinema (9828 Great Hills Trail). See www.austinjff.org for schedule and ticket information.