The JFilm Festival of 2018 has grown by leaps and bounds since it took root as the Pittsburgh Jewish-Israeli Film Festival 25 years ago.

Kathryn Spitz Cohan took over the reins of Film Pittsburgh, with JFilm as the centerpiece, in October 2001 — just after 9/11, she notes. What started as a part-time job has expanded to all-consuming and includes year-round and seasonal staff. The Teen Film program this year brought 8,000 students to share in-theater experiences.

“It’s incredible,” she says of the festival’s longevity and expansion. “It’s grown significantly not only in attendance, but in terms of films.”

When Ms. Spitz Cohan came on board, the festival was three weekends, Thursday, Saturday night and Sunday.

“Now, we’re 11 straight days, and we have 20 films, 29 screenings and numerous post-film programs, we have a world premiere that’s local. … It’s joyful to see the growth.”

The festival continues to seek out movies and documentaries with Jewish themes, but all countries of origin are welcome — there are 12 represented this year — if they meet the mission of works “that deepen audiences’ understanding of Jewish culture, tolerance and our common humanity.”

JFilm 2018 is global and local. Among the screenings that include post-show chats with filmmakers is the world premiere of “In a Dark Wood.” The documentary follows Pittsburgher Mathew Rosenblum’s path to writing a concerto for his friend, clarinetist/composer David Krakauer. Filmed partly in Pittsburgh, the doc also explores Mr. Rosenblum’s remembrance of his grandmother, who escaped a massacre by fleeing Ukraine in 1919. There will be a post-screening Q&A with Mr. Rosenblum and director David Bernabo, a filmmaker, musician and visual artist from Pittsburgh.

In A Dark Wood: The Journey Through Mathew Rosenblum's Lament/Witches' Sabbath (teaser 1) from David Bernabo on Vimeo.

Another opportunity to gather and discuss is “Film Schmooze,” the festival’s casual post-movie gatherings that delve more deeply into a film’s themes and reflect Ms. Spitz Cohan’s aim of nurturing an environment of “creative place making.”

“There’s a language, an evolving practice that engages the arts, culture and community, and that’s what we’re about,” she says.

Film Schmooze, for example, was created to nurture the communal experience beyond the friends you came in with.

“We hope the result is that people connect with one another,” Ms. Spitz Cohan says, “and find that we are more similar than we are different.

HIGHLIGHTS:

For a full schedule, visit http://filmpittsburgh.org/events/:

Thursday 7 p.m.: Opening the festival is the Pittsburgh premiere of the baseball movie “Heading Home: A Tale of Team Israel,” followed by a Q&A with MLB.com reporter and Squirrel Hill resident Jonathan Mayo and an after-party.

Saturday 5:30 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.: A Q&A with actor Erich Bergen (“Jersey Boys,” “Madam Secretary”) follows screenings of his new film, “Humor Me,” about an acclaimed New York playwright who can’t seem to finish his new play. When his wife leaves him and he finds himself broke with nowhere to live, he moves in with his father (Elliott Gould) in a New Jersey retirement community and sorts out his life while enduring his father’s endless jokes. Inspired by his web series, play and book “Old Jews Telling Jokes,” Sam Hoffman’s directorial debut includes Annie Potts and Bebe Neuwirth. (Adult content: language.)

April 29, 7 p.m.: Documentary filmmaker Sam Pollard joins JFilm audiences to discuss his award-winning documentary, “Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me.” Mr. Pollard is known for his work with Spike Lee and his own films, including “Slavery By Another Name” and “August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand,” a documentary for the PBS series “American Masters.”

April 30, 7:30 p.m.: The world premiere documentary “In a Dark Wood,” directed by Pittsburgh filmmaker David Bernabo, charts the path of Pittsburgh composer Mathew Rosenblum’s “Lament/Witches’ Sabbath,” a concerto written for clarinetist/composer David Krakauer. A Q&A with Mr. Bernabo and Mr. Rosenblum follows the screening.

May 2, 7:30 p.m.: Artist and cult filmmaker Philippe Mora’s “Monsieur Mayonnaise” follows his journey to uncover his father’s remarkable exploits in the French Resistance and his mother’s escape from a prison camp. A Q&A with Mr. Mora follows the screening.

Film Schmooze: A casual post-viewing discussion led by a local scholar, May 1 at 7:30 p.m. (“Bye Bye Germany”); May 2 at 5:15 p.m. (“The Oslo Diaries”); and May 5 at 8 p.m. (“Shelter”).

Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960. Twitter: @SEberson_pg.

Correction, posted April 24, 2018: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect date for a screening and Q&A of “Humor Me.” 

First Published: April 23, 2018, 5:50 p.m.