2013 Film Selections Online Tickets Now Available!
2013 Film Categories
MY FATHER AND THE MAN IN BLACK
Los Angeles Premiere
Documentary/Canada/90 minutes/2012
Directed by Jonathan Holiff
An intense personal adventure with universal themes that just happens to feature one of 20th-century music’s greatest icons. ‘My Father and The Man In Black’ presents the untold story of ‘bad boy’ Johnny Cash, his talented but troubled manager, Saul Holiff, and a son searching for clues to his father’s suicide in the shadow of a legend.
- Monday, June 3, 7:00 pm
Muvico, Thousand Oaks - Q&A to follow film with Jonathan Holiff, moderated by Chava Tombosky, blogger for Huffington Post and Jewish Journal
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Wednesday, June 5, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Music Hall, Beverly Hills - Q&A to follow film with Jonathan Holiff, moderated Rabbi Mark Borovitz of Beit T’Shuvah
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LUNCH
Los Angeles Premiere
Documentary/USA/78 minutes/2012
Directed by Donna Kanter
For the past 40 year’s, a group of writers and directors has been meeting for lunch every other Wednesday. The members and their meeting places have changed over the years, but their appetites for the ties that nourish their friendships have remained. Lunch goes beyond a single meal, and into the lives and successes of each comedy legend. Starring: Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Monty Hall, Arthur Hiller, Rocky Kalish, Hal Kanter, Arthur Marx, Gary Owens, John Rappaport, Matty Simmons and Ben Starr.
Sunday, June 2, 3:00 pm
Laemmle’s Music Hall
BUY TICKETS NOW!
- Q&A with director Donna Kanter, Arthur Hiller, Rocky Kalish, Ben Starr and John Rappaport, moderated by Jerry Cutler
- Introduction by Charles Aidikoff
- Sponsored by Factors Famous Deli
NEIL DIAMOND: SOLITARY MAN
U.S. Premiere
Documentary/ UK/60 minutes/ 2011
Directed by Samantha Peters
With a vibrant soundtrack and rare archival footage, this intimate portrait chronicles the pop icon’s personal life, career and rise to stardom. This insightful piece made by the BBC includes an exclusive interview with Neil Diamond, who speaks candidly about his struggles. Interviews with Robbie Robertson (The Band), Neil Sedaka, Micky Dolenz (The Monkees) with “I’m a Believer,” and others track Diamond from his Jewish childhood in Brooklyn to his early days in the Brill Building, his rise to magnetic superstar in the early 70s, sometimes called “the Jewish Elvis,” the lean years of the 80s, and his career reboot via Rick Rubin.
- Sunday, June 2, 5:00 pm
Laemmle’s Music Hall
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Community Partner: MorningStar Commission and JConnectLA
ROMAN POLANSKI: A FILM MEMOIR
Los Angeles Premiere
Documentary/France/90 minutes/2012
Directed by Laurent Bouzereau
Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival
Actor, director, Krakow Ghetto survivor, American fugitive — filmmaker Roman Polanski addresses every aspect of his celebrated, tragic and scandalous life in this intimate documentary. Interviewed by a long-time friend, Polanski sets the record straight on the 1968 murder of his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson cult, and his 1977 sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl that led to his exile and, 30 years later, arrest in Switzerland. Clips from such Polanski classics as Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown and most especially, The Pianist connect the Oscar-winner’s anguished past as a survivor of the Holocaust with his artistic achievements, making for the definitive picture of this complex artist.
- Sunday, June 2, 7:00 pm
Laemmle Music Hall
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Q&A with director Laurent Bouzereau moderated by Danielle Berrin, “Hollywood Jew” of the Jewish JournalPreceded by:
BECOMING HENRY
West Coast Premiere
Short/USA/9 minutes/2012
Directed by Anna Goodman-Herrick
Produced by Stephanie Silverman Houser
A short film based on a true story from the book, An Unbroken Chain: My Journey though the Nazi Holocaust by Henry A. Oertelt. A German immigrant is questioned during a cocktail party in Minnesota regarding his whereabouts during World War II…and discovers that the world can be a very small place.
- Q&A with Stephanie Silverman Houser
- Sponsored by Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, Pamela & Randol Schoenberg and the Goldrich Family Foundation
- Community Partner: the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland and the Polish Film Festival in LA
WHEN COMEDY WENT TO SCHOOL
World Premiere
Documentary/USA/76 minutes/2013
Directed by Ron Frank & Mevlut Akkaya
Written by Lawrence Richards
This remarkable documentary presents an entertaining portrait of this country’s greatest generation of comedians – the generation that includes the likes of Jerry Lewis, Sid Caesar, Larry King, Jackie Mason, Mort Sahl, Jerry Stiller and others, all of whom make appearances in the film, telling jokes and telling their stories. The film also asks the question: Why are so many comedians Jewish? The answer is found in New York State’s Catskill Mountains, where Jewish immigrants transformed lush farmland into the world’s largest resort complex of the 20th century. Those Catskill resorts not only offered a burgeoning Jewish middle class a place to vacation with other Jews, it also provided the setting for a remarkable group of young Jewish-American comedians to hone their craft and become worldwide legends. It was truly When Comedy Went to School.
- CLOSING NIGHT
Thursday, June 6, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Q&A with Larry King and director Ron Frank, moderated by stand-up comic, Judy Carter.
THE LAST WHITE KNIGHT: IS RECONCILIATION POSSIBLE?
West Coast Premiere
Documentary/Canada/78 minutes/2012
Directed by Paul Saltzman
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assasination of civil rights leader, Medgar Evers
In 1965, 21-year-old Torontonian, Paul Saltzman drove to Mississippi, volunteering as a civil rights worker with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. He was arrested, spending 10 days in jail. He smuggled letters out of jail to the Toronto Star. Canadian Foreign Affairs requested his release but Saltzman declined. Posted to one of the toughest segregationist towns, Greenwood, he helped disadvantaged sharecroppers register to vote. He was assaulted by a young Klansman. In 2007, Saltzman returned to find the KKK member who had punched him in the head, to explore if individual reconciliation was possible. He found him and a 5 year dialogue has ensued. His assailant was, Byron de la Beckwith Jr., whose father, Byron de la Beckwith Sr. murdered NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers.
- Tuesday, June 4 at 7:30 pm
Laemmle Music Hall
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Wednesday, June 5 at 7:30 pm
Laemmle Town Center
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Q&A with director Paul Saltzman and LA Urban League President, Nolan V. Rollins, ADL Regional Board Chair Seth M. Gerber, moderated by Naomi Pfefferman-Magid, Arts & Entertainment Editor of the Jewish Journal
- Community Partner: Anti-DefamationLeague and the LA Urban League
BEYOND RIGHT AND WRONG: STORIES OF JUSTICE AND FORGIVENESS
West Coast Premiere
Documentary/Israel/USA/Rwanda/Ireland/81 minutes/2011
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode and Lekha Singh
English and Hebrew with subtitles
Co-directed by acclaimed director, Roger Spottiswoode (Shake Hands With the Devil, Tomorrow Never Dies), this feature documentary tells the stories of people who both endured and perpetrated cruelty and aggression in the genocide in Rwanda, the conflict in Israel/Palestine, and the “troubles” in Northern Ireland. This film focuses on extreme situations but is actually the human story of everyday possibilities in life.After the blood has dried, treaties are negotiated and screams have turned to silence, victims and perpetrators face an uneasy and painful peace. All wounds have not healed and reconciliation is needed. This film portrays the resilience of humanity when facing the chasm between rage and acceptance.
- Tuesday, June 4, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Q&A with director Lekha Singh, moderated by Janice Kaminer-Reznik, Co-Founder and President of Jewish World Watch
- In partnership with Jewish World Watch and CSUN Jewish Studies Program
PLAYING WITH:
ROAD ANGEL
Los Angeles Premiere
Short/Israel/15 minutes/2012
Directed by Steve Lainer
Hebrew with English subtitles
On his way to a village to find those responsible for the murder of his son, Moshik, a middle-aged Israeli man encounters an abandoned baby and simultaneously meets Manar, a troubled young Arabic woman. Could this chance meeting change their lives forever?
- Q&A with director Steve Lainer
(Road Angel will show before “Beyond Right and Wrong” in the same program.)
PUTZEL
Los Angeles Premiere
Comedy/USA/88 minutes/2012
Directed by Jason Chaet
Produced by Allegra Cohen
Written by Rick Moore
Stars Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men), Susie Essman (Curb Your Enthusiasm), John Pankow and Jack Carpenter. For some, life is an adventure filled with opportunities to excel and places to explore. For Walter Himmelstein, a young man, endearingly known as Putzel, life literally doesn’t go beyond his family’s fish store and his community on the upper west side of Manhattan. In this heartwarming comedy, Walter’s aspirations of taking over his uncle’s smoked fish emporium are disrupted by the arrival of Sally, who becomes romantically involved with his about-to-retire and very-married uncle. While Walter tries to thwart their romance in order to ensure his taking over the business, he finds his circumscribed life thrown off kilter, and, after years of being undermined by his family and friends, he finally starts to realize his full potential. With Sally’s help, Walter confronts his fears and proves he is more than a Putzel.
- OPENING NIGHT GALA
Saturday, June 1, 7:30 pm – red carpet, 8:30 pm show begins
Writer’s Guild Theater, Beverly Hills
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Monday, June 3, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Q&A with actor Jack T. Carpenter, director Jason Chaet, producer Allegra Cohen and writer Rick Moore
ALL IN (La suerte en tus manos)
Los Angeles Premiere
Comedy/ Argentina/113 Minutes/ 2012
Directed by Daniel Burman
Spanish with English subtitles
From acclaimed director, Daniel Burman this is a comedy starring Norma Aleandro, Luis Brandoni, Valeria Bertuccelli and Jorge Drexler. The film is about Uriel (Drexler), a divorced dad who enters his doctor’s office, declaring it’s time to get a vasectomy so he can enjoy his bachelorhood with peace of mind. He’s a hustler who’s always looking for special deals (and cheerfully lies to get them). He is disconcertingly dishonest with his children as well, despite his love for them. While on a gambling vacation, poker fan Uriel stumbles across his world weary ex-girlfriend Gloria (Bertuccelli), newly single and ready to be convinced she should give him another chance.”
- Sunday, June 2, 7:00 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
BUY TICKETS NOW! - In cooperation with the Consulate General of Argentina
AN EVENING OF FILM AND FOOD
Presented by ATID, American Friends of Tel Aviv University & YALA
Join us for an evening of “Jewish Culture” with an exclusive reception and short films made by emerging artists and filmmakers in their 20’s & 30’s.
- Tuesday, June 4
6:30pm – Reception
7:30 pm – film screenings
Sinai Temple
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Q&A with filmmakers
NONO, THE ZIGZAG KID
Los Angeles Premiere
Comedy/Netherlands & Belgium/94 minutes/2012
Directed by Vincent Bal
Starring Isabella Rossellini
Dutch/French with English Subtitles
Appropriate for ages 10+
Official Selection at the Berlinale
The journey from childhood to adulthood is fraught with highs and lows, and it’s no different for thirteen-year-old Amnon Feierberg (or “Nono,” as he’s nicknamed), Nono (newcomer Thomas Simon), the son of the world’s greatest police inspector, is on a train trip to see his boring uncle when adventure calls. He meets his father’s arch-nemesis, notorious criminal Felix Glick, and puts his detective skills to work, wearing disguises and evading police as he heads to the French Riviera, where Felix introduces Nono to seductive nightclub chanteuse Lola Ciperola (Isabella Rossellini). With only twenty-four hours to go before his Bar Mitzvah, Nono must complete his high-stakes mission – while also confronting the mystery of his own identity and the truth about the mother he has never known. Adapting the beloved book by acclaimed Israeli writer David Grossman, Flemish writer-director Vincent Bal has created a witty, spirited and action-packed adventure.
- Sunday, June 2, 5:00 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Community Partners: The Builders of Jewish Education and the Zimmer Children’s Museum
jTeenLA FilmFest: TELLING THE JEWISH STORY
Shorts/USA/90 minutes/2013
The Righteous Conversations Project “Call to Action” Category /USA/2013
Multiple teen directors
Program introduction by Halston Sage of Nickelodeon’s “How to Rock!”
Back for the second year, LAJFF, BJE and our newest partner, The Righteous Conversations Project will showcase a diverse range of student films that represents the burgeoning talent of the future generation of filmmakers from throughout Southern California.
- Sunday, June 2, 3:00 pm
Laemmle’s Town Center
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Teen filmmaker panel & reception to follow screening
- In partnership with Builders of Jewish Education & The Righteous Conversations Project
SONNY BOY
Los Angeles Premiere
Drama/Netherlands /132 minutes/2011
Directed by Maria Peters
Dutch with English subtitles
Official Selection to the 2012 Academy Awards
Offering a sweeping epic encompassing the years 1911–1945, this adaptation of the best-selling novel by Annejet van der Zijl tells the real-life love story of a mixed-race couple and their struggle to survive and help others in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. Free spirit Rika, with four children, leaves her unfaithful husband and in order to survive, she rents out a spare room to the university student Waldemar, a bright young man from Surinam who is suffering deeply in racist Holland. Against all odds, Rika and Waldemar fall in love. They have a son, nicknamed “Sonny Boy.” As the war breaks out, they start a new life managing a guesthouse and work with the Resistance to provide a hiding place for Holland’s persecuted Jews.
- Monday, June 3, 7:30 pm
Laemmle’s Music Hall
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Introduction by actor Curt Lowens
- In cooperation with Remember Us: The Righteous Conversations Project and the USC Shoah Foundation
TWO WHO DARED: THE SHARPS’ WAR
West Coast Premiere
Documentary/USA/76 minutes/2012
Directed by Artemis Joukowsky
The never before told story of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, an American minister and his wife who boldly committed to a life-threatening mission in Europe to help save imperiled Jews and refugees at the onset of World War II. In order to enable the clandestine transportation of refugees, they battled political and social blockades, broke laws to get imperiled individuals exit visas and laundered money on the black market. Over the course of two missions; in Prague (1939), and in Southern France (1940), the Sharps, and their underground confederates played a vital role in saving thousands from persecution.
- Wednesday, June 5, 7:30 pm
Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Q&A with director, Artemis Joukowsky
- In partnership with Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills and HadassahPreceded By:
REPORTING ON THE TIMES: THE NEW YORK TIMES AND THE HOLOCAUST
Los Angeles Premiere
Directed by Emily Harrold
Short/USA/18 minutes/2012
Inspired by Laurel Leff’s award winning book Buried by The Times, this film explores how The New York Times handled reports of the Holocaust during World War II. It also explores why The Times, a Jewish owned newspaper, buried more than one thousand articles in its back pages. Was it simply an oversight? Or did the publishers and editors fear an American antisemitic backlash? Though interviews and testimony of a Holocaust survivor, historians, journalists, and American citizens who lived through World War II, the film also asks viewers to consider the power of the press in creating change.
RETURN TO REICHENBACH
Los Angeles Premiere
Documentary/Canada & Germany/55 minutes/2012
Directed by Maureen Kelleher
English & German with English subtitles
This compelling documentary weaves together the stories of two women – one orphaned by the Hitler’s regime and the other possibly the Nazi guard who protected her. The film intimately explores and contrasts their World War II experiences and crushing losses, and witnesses their fraught reunion more than half a century later. RETURN TO REICHENBACH gives audiences a rare opportunity to intimately experience history through the eyes of an everyday German woman and a Jewish girl.
Preceded by:
THE NEW WOMAN: ANNIE “LONDONDERRY” KOPCHOVSKY
West Coast Premiere
Documentary/USA/27 minutes/2012
Directed by Gillian Willman
Until 1894, there were no female sports stars, no product endorsement deals, and no young, Jewish mothers with the chutzpah to circle the globe on a bicycle. Annie Kopchovsky changed all of that. A spicy blend of adventure, social history, and portrait of an athletic pioneer, “The New Woman: Annie ‘Londonderry’ Kopchovsky” is a documentary film about an improbable journey by bicycle and the eccentric, fiery woman who dared to undertake it.
- Tuesday, June 4, 12:00 pm
National Council for Jewish Women
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Community Sponsor: Café Europa
- Sponsored by Chana & Phil Bell in honor of Sophie & Max Lazar
DISOBEDIENCE: THE SOUSA MENDES STORY (Desobeir)
Los Angeles Premiere
Drama/France/104 minutes/2011
Directed by Joel Santoni
French with English subtitles
This remarkable true story has been described by historians as ‘the largest rescue action by a single individual during the Holocaust. June 1940 — Paris is occupied. Millions of refugees fleeing the advancing Nazi troops rush to Bordeaux, France seeking passage to safety. An anxious crowd surrounds the Consulate of Portugal, an officially ‘neutral’ nation. The Portuguese Consul is a man named Aristides de Sousa Mendes. But Portugal’s Prime Minister Salazar has forbidden its diplomats to open Portugal’s borders to ‘undesirables’ –specifically Jews. Sousa Mendes jeopardizes his career and family’s safety and prepares visas night and day, signing thousands of passports. It is estimated that he granted visas to as many as 30,000.
www.sousamendesfoundation.org
- Sunday, June 2, 11:00 am
Laemmle Playhouse
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Q&A with Sousa Mendes visa recipient, Lee Sterling
- Monday, June 3, 7:30 pm
Temple Menorah
BUY TICKETS NOW! - Q&A with Kathleen Rand, daughter of Sousa Mendes visa recipientPreceded by:
ALL THE BROKEN PIECES
World Premiere
Short/USA/8 minutes/2012
Directed by Daniella Kahane
Starring Tovah Feldshuh
All the Broken Pieces explores the relationship between a grandmother with early onset Alzheimer’s and her young granddaughter.
