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2009 Film Selections
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2009 Film Categories
On the Road to Tel Aviv – LA Premiere
Short/Israel/15minutes/2008
Directed by: Khen Shalem
Hebrew with English subtitles
The story of a young Israeli who finds himself in a tricky situation when an Arab woman enters the same bus as his fiancée. Panic ensues as the realities of war, terror, and enemies are exposed.
Followed by:
Democracy’s Outpost
Documentary/USA/77 minutes/2008
Directed by: Michael Yohay
Produced by: Gloria Greenfield
English and Hebrew with English subtitles
Presenting a vigorous case for Israel — for its basic right to exist, to protect its citizens from terrorism, and to defend its borders from hostile enemies, Alan Dershowitz engages leaders from Israel and North America in discourse on critical challenges facing Israel and the West.
To purchase the DVD, visit www.thecaseforisrael.com
Tuesday, April 28, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
• Panel with Gloria Greenfield and Carrie Menkel-Meadow (peace negotiator)
Sponsored by Mireille and Barry Wolfe
Documentary/Israel/65 minutes/2007
Directed by: Yael Katzir
Produced by: Dan Katzir and Ravit Marcus
English and Hebrew with English subtitles
The courageous struggle of a religious group called “Women of the Wall,” a movement for equality next to the Wailing Wall — perhaps the holiest place on earth for the Jews. The story of the “Women of the Wall” is a test case for the deprived status of women in Israeli public life.
Sunday, April 26, 4:00 pm
Westside JCC
• Q & A with Rabbi Sharon Brous and producers
In cooperation with IKAR
Drama/Israel/106 minutes/2008
Directed by: Eran Riklis
Starring: Hiam Abbas and Rona Lipaz-Michael
Arabic, French, Hebrew with English subtitles
A Palestinian widow, Salma finds her beloved lemon grove – a family legacy – threatened when a stubborn Israeli defense minister moves in next door and declares the trees a security threat. Salma takes her seemingly hopeless case all the way to the Israeli High Court with the help of a young Palestinian attorney. Her legal battle stirs the sympathies of the minister’s wife.
Nominated for seven Israeli Academy Awards.
Sunday, April 26, 2:30 pm
Laemmle’s Music hall
Documentary/USA and Netherlands/75 minutes/2007
Directed by: Jan Diederen
Richie Rakowski struggles to bridge an emotional gap with his aging father Sam, a stubborn and stoic Holocaust survivor. The filmmaker unintentionally takes on the role as mediator between two men who have spent their lives struggling against personal traumas and tragedies. This film captures the remarkable transformation of a relationship, and the healing of two souls.
Wednesday, April 29, 8:00 pm
UCLA Melnitz Hall
• Q&A with Jan Diederen
In cooperation with UCLA Hillel and the Center for Jewish Studies at UCLA
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg – LA Premiere
Short/USA/16 minutes/2009
Directed by: Aviva Kempner
The amazing life and career of Gertrude Berg, the creator, writer and star of The Goldbergs, a radio show that debuted in 1929 and subsequently became a popular weekly TV program (1949-1956). Berg pioneered the family sitcom that was to become TV’s most enduring format.
Followed by:
At Home in Utopia – LA Premiere
Documentary/USA/57 minutes/2008
Directed by: Michal Goldman
English and Yiddish with English subtitles
A home of one’s own: that’s the American dream. But what happens when the dreamers are immigrants, factory workers, and Communists?
Mining a rich, forgotten chapter of New York socialism, At Home in Utopia is the tale of the country’s first experiment in cooperative urban living. Founded by Russian Jewish immigrants in 1925, the United Workers Cooperative Colony – aka the Coops – was an oasis of progressive social values and radical ideals where Yiddish was taught after school and racial integration was not only preached but practiced. An epic tale of the struggle for equity and justice across two generations, the film tracks the rise and fall of one community from the 1920s into the 1950s.
Monday, April 27, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Music Hall
• After the screening join the filmmaker, children of the Coops and public housing gurus in exploring the experience — and present-day lessons — of the Coops. With Michal Goldman, the filmmaker; Elissa Barrett, Executive Director of PJA; Hershl Hartman, child of the Coops, Education Director of the Sholem Community and Yiddishkayt’s Vortsman; and Irv Goldstein, child of the Coops. Moderated by Peter Dreier, Professor of Politics and Chair of the Urban & Environmental Policy Program at Occidental College.Community Sponsor: Yiddishkayt LA, Arbeter Ring/Workmen’s Circle, Progressive Jewish Alliance, and the Sholem Community
Letters for Jenny (Cartas Para Jenny) – LA Premiere
Drama/Argentina, Israel, Spain/96 minutes/2007
Directed by: Diego Musiak
Spanish with English subtitles
Having lost her mother to a terminal illness, Jenny enters her teenage years after a bittersweet Bat Mitzvah. A series of letters left for her from her late mother are her only comfort in times of major crisis and help her on the path of self-discovery. Traveling from South America to Israel, she reconnects with her Jewish identity, and a handsome childhood friend.
Wednesday, April 29, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
Sponsored by the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles
Presented by ATID
Join us for an evening of “Jewish Culture” with food, music, Jewish-themed art and short films made by emerging artists and filmmakers in their 20s & 30s.
Wednesday, April 29, 6:30 pm (art show opens)
7:00 pm (film screenings)
Sinai Temple
Drama/Austria/102 minutes/2007
Directed by: Joshua Sinclair
Produced by: Lilly Berger
Starring: Patrick Swayze, Ben Silverstone, Martine McCutcheon, Stephanie Powers and Sybil Danning
A psychological drama revealing the extraordinary circumstances behind the unjust murder trial of the young Jew, Philippe Halsman, who would later become the most sought after celebrity portrait
photographer of his generation. Set in 1928 Austria during the rise of fascism, the film documents the troubled relationship between Philippe and his father, the events leading to his father’s death and the relationship with his Jewish attorney (Swayze). It focuses a sharp but delicate eye upon the anti-Semitic atmosphere that quickly led to Philippe’s conviction.
Opening Night Gala!
Writers Guild Theater
Thursday, April 23, 8:00 pm
Doors open at 7:15 pm
• Q&A with Joshua Sinclair and Lilly BergerSponsored by the Robert & Annette Lichtenstein Family Trust
Sunday, April 26, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
• Q&A with producer
Where I Stand: The Hank Greenspun Story – LA Premiere
Documentary/USA/98 minutes/2008
Portrayed by: Anthony Hopkins
Produced, Written and Directed by: Scott Goldstein
Hank Greenspun, a real-life Zelig, was the last of the “give ‘em hell” newspaper men. Hank is on the winning side of every battle, whether risking his future to run guns to the new state of Israel, standing up against Joseph McCarthy, or getting Howard Hughes to relocate to Las Vegas to buy out the mob. Includes interviews with gangsters, movie stars, his family, “Bugsy” Siegel, Richard Nixon, Shimon Peres and Steve Wynn.
Saturday, April 25, 8:00 pm
Laemmle’s Music Hall
SOLD OUT
Following Doctor Schneider
Wednesday, April 29, 7:00 pm
Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills
• Panel with Scott Goldstein, Brian Greenspun
Broken Promise – World Premiere
Drama/Slovakia/129 minutes/2009
Directed by: Jiri Chlumsky
Slovakian with English subtitles
Based on the true story of Martin Friedmann, a talented Jewish soccer player from a small Slovak town who had to make risky lifetime decisions in order to survive in WWII. When Friedmann sees his family taken to Poland one by one, he voluntarily goes to a work camp where he finds out that he is not safe anywhere. He survives the last selection for Auschwitz, and through a series of events joins up as a partisan under the new name “Petrasek,” with a band of Soviet-led-guerillas that are even bigger anti-Semites than the Germans.
Saturday, April 25, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Fallbrook
SOLD OUT
• Q & A with Martin Petrasek
In cooperation with the Consul General of Slovakia and El Caballero Country Club
Toyland (Spielzeugland) – Encore Presentation
Short/Germany/10 Minutes/2007
Directed by: Jochen Alexander Freydank
German with English subtitles
To protect her son from the horrors of 1942 Germany, Marianne tells him that his Jewish best friend and his parents are packing for a journey to ‘Toyland’. He begs to go along until one morning her
son and the neighbors have disappeared.
Winner of 2008 Academy Award®
Followed by:
Not Idly By: Peter Bergson, America and the Holocaust – World Premiere
Documentary/USA/40 minutes/2009
Directed by: Pierre Sauvage
Most Americans — even many American Jews — believe that we didn’t know. Many assume that we couldn’t have done anything even if we had known that European Jews were being massacred by Hitler. Meet Peter Bergson, a militant Jew from pre-Israel Palestine, who led a controversial American effort to fight the Holocaust. This is his testimony.
Sunday, April 26, 5:00 pm
Laemmle’s Music Hall
• Q & A with Pierre SauvageIn Commemoration of Yom HaShoah
Sponsored by the Goldrich Family Foundation
Short/USA/16 minutes/2008
Directed by: Jay Falk
Produced by: Mt. Sinai Memorial Park & Mortuaries
This film features the moving stories of survival and personal reflections of Holocaust survivors from Los Angeles and their families.
Followed by:
Classmates of Anne Frank – LA Premiere
Documentary/Israel/58 minutes/2008
Directed by: Eyal Boers
Hebrew and Dutch with English subtitles
To comprehend fully the events in the life of Anne Frank, one must listen to the voices of the children who were there with her, of those who remember her. Set against their childhood locations in Amsterdam, Westerbork Transit Camp and their current homes in Holland and Israel, Theo Coster and six other former classmates discuss their relationships with Anne and how they survived the war.
Tuesday, April 28, 1:00 pm
Westside JCC
Community Sponsor: Café Europa
Looking for Roots, Finding Flowers – LA Premiere
Documentary /USA and Romania/72 minutes/2008
Directed by: Dan Jacobson
This fascinating and engaging film follows the director’s grandfather, along with other members of his family, on a quest to find their ancestral home in Romania. Join them as they head into the rural countryside to find the home of Jacobson’s great-great grandparents, following distant memories
of a time lost in the turmoil of World War II.
Wednesday, April 29, 7:00 pm
Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Short/USA/9 minutes/2008
Directed by: Tara Hernandez
Nothing can prepare Dr. Schneider for the decision he must face when approached by a longtime Jewish patient with an unusual request. Set against the backdrop of WW II Germany, Dr. Schneider mustcome to terms with the horrors that exist outside his isolated walls.
Followed by:
Where I Stand: The Hank Greenspun Story – LA Premiere (see description above)
Documentary/USA/98 minutes/2008
Portrayed by: Anthony Hopkins
Produced, Written and Directed by: Scott Goldstein
Wednesday, April 29, 7:00 pm
Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills
In cooperation with Hadassah
One Day You’ll Understand (Plus Tard)
Drama/France/90 minutes/2008
Directed by: Amos Gitai
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Hippolyte Girardot and Emmanuelle Devos
French with English subtitles
Raised Catholic like his father, Victor and his sister knew nothing of their parents’ wartime past or of their maternal grandparents’ deportation to the camps. In 1987, the televised trial of Klaus Barbie, ‘the butcher of Lyon,’ disturbs this legacy of silence and spurs Victor to search for the missing pieces of his family’s history.
Wednesday, April 29, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Music Hall
Documentary/USA/90 minutes/2008
Directed by: Cass Warner
Appearances by: Norman Lear, Debbie Reynolds, Tab Hunter, Angie Dickenson and others
An intimate portrait of the four film pioneers who founded and ran Warner Bros. Studios for over 50 years. Told in the voice of Harry Warner’s granddaughter, it includes never before seen photos and footage. This band of brothers rose from immigrant poverty through personal tragedies, persevering to create a major studio with a social conscience, ultimately revolutionizing Hollywood.
Closing Night
Thursday, April 30, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
• Q&A with Cass Warner, Stephen Farber and special guests
Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger – LA Premiere
Comedy/Australia/103 minutes/2008
Directed by: Cathy Randall
Starring: Toni Collette and Keisha Castle-Hughes
A quirky comedy about the unending quest for self-acceptance that follows the life trials of a nerdy Australian teen. Scorned by classmates at her snooty private school, and an afterthought in her dysfunctional Jewish home, Esther is an outcast in her own world. But life turns a corner when she befriends a rebellious student and her hip single mother. An experience to be shared by mature teens and adults alike, the film invites audiences to embrace the wonderful weirdness of being true to yourself.
Saturday, April 25, 8:00 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
Tuesday, April 28, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Music Hall
Appropriate for age 14+
Comedy/USA/98 minutes/2008
Directed by: Jim Sherman
Produced by: Dan and David Newton
Starring: Lainie Kazan, Seymour Cassel, Robyn Cohen, Tony Daly and Willie Garson
A delightful romantic comedy that tells the familiar tale of a Jewish girl whose mother is constantly nagging her to date a nice Jewish boy. Sarah invents the perfect “Beau” and hires an actor to take on the role of her imaginary Jewish suitor. Hilarious antics ensue in this tale of love that starts with a little white lie.
Sunday, April 26, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Music Hall
Tuesday, April 28, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Pasadena
• Q & A with Lainie Kazan, Jim Sherman, cast and producers at both shows
Short/USA/10 minutes/2008
Directed by: Yitz Brilliant
A coming-of-age drama set in Israel, about 10-year-old Yoni who each Sabbath attempts to sneak past curmudgeonly Mr. Katz into Kiddush before the end of services — but one day Mr. Katz is nowhere to be seen.
Followed by:
Grandpa, Speak to Me in Russian
Documentary/Ireland/54 minutes/2007
Directed by: Louis Lentin
An innovative quest based on memory, conjecture and love, centering on the life of the director’s paternal grandfather who left a repressive Russian regime and arrived in Ireland as a boy of fourteen in the mid-1890s.
Friday, April 24, 1:00 pm
Westside JCC
Shorts/USA/80 minutes/2008
In its second year, this event will showcase Jewish student films from day/high schools throughout Los Angeles. We will present a diverse and exciting range of student work that represents the burgeoning talent of our future generation of filmmakers.
Sunday, April 26, 3:00 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
• Q&A with student filmmakers
Sponsored by The Jewish Federation Valley Alliance and the Martin F. Witkin Fund
Holy Land Hardball – LA Premiere
Documentary /USA/84 minutes/2008
Directed and Produced by: Brett Rapkin and Eric Kesten
This heartwarming film chronicles the unpredictable journey of the formation of the Israel Baseball League, the first ever professional baseball circuit in the Middle East. Their task is to bring to Israel a sport they have managed to live without for 5,767 years. The ultimate question is, “If we build it, will they come?”
Sunday, April 26, 5:00 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
• Q & A with Brett Rapkin
Appropriate for age 13+
Making the Crooked Straight – LA Premiere
Documentary/Ethiopia/30 minutes/2008
Directed by: Susan Cohn Rockefeller
The story of one man’s journey to save the world by saving one child at a time. Dr. Rick Hodes has dedicated his life to helping heal the sick and poor of Ethiopia. Dr. Hodes arranges for complex overseas surgeries, often paying at his own expense, and has thus far adopted seventeen children, providing them with not only proper medical care, but a home and an education.
Followed by:
Documentary/Israel/66 minutes/2008
Directed by: Shai Carmeli-Polak
Produced by: Zafrir Kochanovsky
Hebrew with English subtitles
2007 saw a wave of African refugees crossing through Egypt to Israel. Once a major contributor to the Geneva Convention dealing with refugees, Israel instead, sent most back to Egypt. The only help offered came from individuals and private organizations. Among the groups arriving from Africa, the film focuses on two of the refugees from Darfur, Adam and Ismail.
Monday, April 27, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
• Q & A with Zafrir Kochanovsky
Community Sponsor: Jewish World Watch
Nice Jewish Boys – LA Premiere
Short/Canada/3 minutes/2008
Directed by: Janice Shulman
Rendered in hand-drawn 2D animation, the film’s edgy and twisted humor explores dating as seen through the eyes of a modern Jewish woman; an experience shared by all in search of the perfect mate.
Followed by:
Short/Israel/17 minutes/2008
Directed by: Dan Deutsch
Hebrew, Arabic, Russian with English subtitles
System Ali is a fresh, young hip-hop band from Jaffa, who through their music find peace and togetherness in a part of Israel where racial prejudice are on the daily agenda. Singing in Arabic, Hebrew and Russian, System Ali deals with the problems of the young generation living in Jaffa.
“Young Professionals Night at the Knitting Factory”
Tuesday, April 28, 6:00 pm
• Followed by a performance with Moshav and special guest from Israel, Haran Yaffe
In cooperation with GesherCity
