Festival History:
In 2006, the inaugural Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, based out of the San Fernando Valley, proved to be not only a successful program, but filled a cultural void in the Los Angeles Jewish community. Based on that feedback, the second installment of LAJFF in 2007 expanded into the city (Westside) and Conejo areas continuing to offer affiliated Jews, unaffiliated Jews and non-Jews an opportunity to open up new dialogues, meet emerging filmmakers, Jewish scholars and celebrities and have a first look at the latest feature films, documentaries and shorts all dealing with Jewish thought, tradition, history, the Holocaust, Israel, and culture.
In LAJFF’s premiere year, approximately 2000 tickets were sold to attend screenings of 20 films, across six days in eight venues, with multiple sold out shows. By the fourth year we expanded the festival to 30 films in 14 venues citywide and increased ticket sales by more than 50%. Film programs accompanied by panel discussions were developed with the support of community partners including UCLA Hillel, Jewish World Watch, Yiddishkayt LA, JDate, the Goethe Institute, the Anti-Defamation League and others. We engaged the participation of multiple consulates (Israeli, Polish, French, Austrian, Argentinean, etc.) and over a dozen synagogues partners.
LAJFF is innovative, too. In the 2008 festival, award presentations were made to two legendary “Jewish” pioneers: Joan Rivers and Theodore Bikel. And in 2009, LAJFF was the first to premiere Patrick Swayze’s last film, Jump, accompanied by a Tribute to the late great actor and the last public event honoring his work before his death. LAJFF was also the first to premiere films such as the The Little Traitor, Live and Become, two Oscar-winning shorts, Toyland and West Bank Story, as well as the very popular Keeping Up With the Steins; and was the only festival that was given the opportunity to screen O Jerusalem. Panel discussions included Alfred Molina, Garry Marshall, Larry Miller, Meyer Gottlieb and Ari Sandel, amongst others.
The festival’s fifth year in 2010 made great strides with yet more innovative programming including a tribute to Israeli Cinema and programs that reached out to the African American and Latino communities. LAJFF premiered Antwone Fisher’s new short film, My Summer Friend, with a discussion with Mr. Fisher himself. The film screened in a program with the controversial film, Holy Rollers,(written by a Latino-Mormon) to a fascinated, vastly multi-cultural audience. LAJFF also gave the US premiere to The Loners, directed by renowned Israeli director, Renen Schorr. Mr. Schorr who was in attendance is a founder of the Israel Film Fund, the Sam Spiegel Film School and has influenced a whole generation of Israeli filmmakers.
In 2008, LAJFF launched a special program to celebrate young filmmakers by hosting a program of short films created by the students at the Jewish day and high schools. This unique initiative was funded by the Jewish Federation Valley Alliance. “The goal is to offer a real learning opportunity for young Jews who can make a difference in the future.” says Carol Koransky, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation Valley Alliance.
