2019 films will be announced on April 9th!
2018 FILM SELECTIONS
Films categorized by date of screening.
Click on the photos to see each film’s trailer
OPENING NIGHT GALA!
SAMMY DAVIS Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me
Los Angeles Premiere!
Documentary/USA/2018/100 minutes
Directed by Sam Pollard
LAJFF will pay tribute to the legendary entertainer, Sammy Davis Jr. and celebrate pioneers in television. Opening Gala with honored guests: TV icon and producer GEORGE SCHLATTER (creator of “Laugh In” and multiple variety shows including the “Sammy Davis Jr: 60th Anniversary Celebration”), MANNY DAVIS (son of Sammy Davis Jr.) and TOM DREESEN (comedian, Opening Act for Sammy Davis Jr.)
Sammy Davis Jr. was a giant in Hollywood. A member of the infamous rat pack. An award winning singer, dancer and actor. This first major documentary examines Sammy Davis Jr.’s vast talent and his journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during 20th-century America. Featuring interviews with such luminaries as George Schlatter, Billy Crystal, Jerry Lewis, Kim Novak and Burt Boyar, with never-before-seen photographs and excerpts from his electric performances, this film explores the life and art of a uniquely gifted entertainer.
- Introduction by Rabbi Jerry Cutler
- Q&A with George Schlatter, Manny Davis and Tom Dreesen, moderated by Stan Taffel, Sammy Davis Jr. Archivist
- In partnership with Creative Arts Temple
- Reception sponsored by Chef Josette & Legacy Entertainment
- Wednesday, April 25
- 7:15 pm – Doors Open for Red Carpet, Hors d’oeuvres and wine
- 8:00 pm – Show begins
- Ahrya Fine Arts Theater, Beverly Hills
Second screening of SAMMY DAVIS Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me
- Sunday, April 29, 5:00 pm
- Laemmle’s Town Center, Encino
THE LAND OF MILK AND FUNNY
Comedy/Documentary/USA/2017/78 minutes
Directed by Larry Herbst
Produced by Danny Gold
This hilarious and uplifting film views Israel through the eyes of society’s funniest observers: comedians. LA-based Jewish stand up, Avi Liberman has been taking fellow American comedians of different backgrounds to Israel to entertain a nation battered by terrorism. As they tour the country, some are deeply affected by the spiritual and historic sites; others are wildly irreverent. Liberman’s tours feature 30 renowned stand ups (i.e., Gary Gulman, Craig Robinson, Wayne Federman). Laughter mixes with deep emotions to create an unforgettable experience for both the comics and the thousands who attend the shows.
REINVENTING ROSALEE
Los Angeles Premiere!
Documentary/USA/2017/87 minutes
Directed by Lillian Glass
Rosalee Glass, a Holocaust survivor taken prisoner to a Russian gulag in Siberia during WW2, shares her story of survival and transforms her destiny by living her life to the fullest. In her 80’s, she started an acting career, in her 90’s, won ‘Miss Congeniality’ in a Senior beauty pageant, was seen by millions in a Super Bowl commercial, wrote a book sharing her secrets to a long life, and dares to ride Alaskan Sled Dogs at 100.
- Q&A with Rosalee & Lillian Glass!
- Sponsored by Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills
- In partnership with Hadassah and Chai Village
- Thursday, April 26, 7:30 pm
- Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills
Celebrating the life of Jewish Emigre, the Austrian Director Max Reinhardt
with a special presentation of his film,
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Comedy/Romance/Fantasy/USA/1935/145 minutes
Directed by Max Reinhardt
Written by William Shakespeare
Stars: James Cagney, Dick Powell, Ian Hunter, Olivia de Havilland, Mickey Rooney
Academy Award for Best Film Editing, Academy Award for Best Cinematography
A tribute to Jewish émigré Max Reinhardt
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Max Reinhardts death, LAJFF will, in cooperation with the Austrian Consulate General – feature this masterpiece.
One of the most important and innovative directors of the first half of the 20th Century, Max Reinhardt (born Goldmann) had a decisive impact in theatre and film reaching from Europe to America. In Salzburg in 1920, he launched the Salzburg Festival, today one of the worlds most famous and influential festivals. Reinhardt was celebrated in Europe as a genius. In 1938, after fleeing certain death under the Nazis regime, he continued his visionary work as an émigré in Los Angeles, where he founded the California Film Festival at the Hollywood Bowl. There he directed his only film in America, A Midsummer Nights Dream. The film was nominated for four Oscars. All the while, the film was banned in Germany and became a symbol of resistance against Fascism.
- Introduction by Consul General Andreas Launer
- Pre-film discussion with Reinhardt experts, Dr. Helga Rabl-Stadler, President of the Salzburg Festival, Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, Stan Taffel, President of Cinecon, moderated by Gert Korentschnig, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Kurier
- Sponsored by the Austrian Consulate General in Los Angeles
- Co-sponsored by Pamela & Randol Schoenberg
- Thursday, April 26
- 6:00 pm – Reception
- 7:00 pm – Show begins
- Landmark Regent Theatre, Westwood
THE LAST SUIT (El último traje)
Los Angeles Premiere!
Drama/Argentina/2017/88 minutes
Directed and written by Pablo Solarz
Spanish, Yiddish, German, Polish with English subtitles
At 88, Abraham Bursztein is seeing his place in the world rapidly disappear. His kids have sold his Buenos Aires residence, set him up to move to a retirement home, and disagree on how to handle his fading health. But Abraham survived the Holocaust, made a successful life in a foreign land, and isn’t about to quietly fade away. Instead, he plots a secret one-way trip to Poland, where he plans to find the Christian friend who saved him from certain death at the end of World War II, and to keep his promise to return one day. Comedic and poignant in equal measure, from Argentina to Europe on the journey of a lifetime, Abraham is accompanied by extraordinary characters he meets along the way, who both help him and need his help. A standout among these is the iconic Spanish actress Angela Molina, as the proprietor of the Madrid hotel.
With its klezmer-driven score, evocative cinematography and fleet pacing, THE LAST SUIT approaches its weighty themes with a light touch that illuminates a serious story. And in its mix of Spanish, Yiddish, German and Polish, it is a globe-trotting surprise, a late-in-life road movie with planes, trains and heart.
Preceded by
THE DRIVER IS RED
Short-Animation/USA/2017/15 minutes
Directed & Animated by Randall Christopher
Set in Argentina 1960, this true crime documentary follows the story of secret agent Zvi Aharoni as he hunted down one of the highest ranking Nazi war criminals on the run.
- Q&A with Randall Christopher & Jared Callahan
- Saturday, April 28, 8:00 pm
- Laemmle’s Town Center, Encino
THE SAMUEL PROJECT
World Premiere!
Dramatic Comedy/USA/2018/93 minutes
Directed by Marc Fusco
Produced by Steve Weinberger
Starring: Hal Linden, Ken Davitian & Ryan Ochoa
Honoring Hal Linden with the Marvin Paige Hollywood Legacy Award.
Eli (Ryan Ochoa), a teenager gets to know his grandfather Samuel (Hal Linden) for the first time when he makes him the subject of a senior year animated art project. With dreams of becoming a professional artist, Eli discovers that his grandpa was heroically saved from Nazi capture in Germany by a young woman when he was a boy. After hesitating, Samuel agrees to tell the story he hasn’t told in over 75 years. To his dismay, Eli is assigned to complete his project with an eccentric classmate Kasim, an electric guitar wielding school misfit.
- Q&A with Hal Linden, Ken Davitian, Ryan Ochoa and cast, moderated by Danielle Berrin, senior writer at Jewish Journal!
- Sponsored by the Goldrich Family Foundation & the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust
- Saturday, April 28, 8:00 pm
- Laemmle’s Music Hall, Beverly Hills
ABOVE THE DROWNING SEA
Documentary/USA/2017/92 minutes
Directed by Rene Balcer & Nicola Zavaglia
The dramatic escape of thousands of European Jews to Shanghai, who found safe harbor from the Nazi menace, is revealed in the affecting ABOVE THE DROWNING SEA. As Hitler advanced, Jewish families sought refuge in any country that would accept them. With every door closed, Ho Feng-Shan, the Chinese Consul in Vienna, courageously defied his own government and the Gestapo by issuing visas to the refugees. Arriving on China’s eastern coast, the exiles faced new trials in a remote, unfamiliar land, caught up in its own civil war and chaos from foreign invasion. This remarkable story of heroism and humanity comes to life through the voices of actors Julianna Margulies, Tony Goldwyn and Nick Mancuso, as well as accounts by the refugees and their Chinese neighbors who recall their harrowing experiences and the remarkable friendships forged across cultures.
Won the Golden Dragon Award for Best Documentary at the Ferrara Film Festival, Nominated for the Knight Award for Documentary Achievement at the Miami Film Festival
- Introduction by Natan Pakman | Associate Regional Director of the ADL
- Sponsored by Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center
- Community Partner: Anti-Defamation League Asian Jewish Initiative
- Sunday, April 29, 11:00 am
- Laemmle’s Playhouse, Pasadena
HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405
Documentary/USA/2017/40 minutes
Directed by Frank Stiefel
2018 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary Short!
An extraordinary documentary portrait of LA artist Mindy Alper, whose astonishing body of work reveals a lifetime of struggle with debilitating mental illness and family dysfunction. Her only consistent means of communicating has been to channel her self-awareness into remarkable drawings and sculpture. Through an examination of her work, interviews, and the building of an eight foot papier-mache bust we learn how she has emerged from a life of darkness to a life that includes love, trust and laughter. From director Frank Stiefel (Ingelore, 2008).
- Q&A with the director Frank Stiefel & Mindy Alper.
Frank Stiefel director, producer and writer,came to filmmaking late in life, spending most of his career in the commercial production. In 2009, Stiefel made his first documentary, “Ingelore”, about his mother, a deaf Holocaust survivor, which premiered at LAJFF and aired on HBO.
Mindy Alper is a Los Angeles based artist whose work is represented by the Rosamund Belsen Gallery, one of the most prestigious galleries in Los Angeles.
- Community Partners: International Documentary Association
and MorningStar Commission - Introduction by filmmaker Lynn Roth
Preceded by
STITCHERS: Tapestry of Spirit
Documentary Short/Canada/2017/15 minutes
Directed by Tassie Notar
One woman’s ambitious project to create the entire Torah, in needlepoint. Over 1,000 stitchers in almost 20 countries, are each stitching a portion, in the hope that the final work will become a inspiring traveling museum exhibit.
- Sunday, April 29, 3:00 pm
- Laemmle’s Music Hall, Beverly Hills
VOICES OF HOPE: LAMOTH Student Film Showcase
Shorts/2017-2018/70 minutes
Multiple directors
Student filmmakers make you think. These are the inspiring stories told through the lens of a new generation. A mix of vibrant storytelling, this exceptional collection highlights very Jewish and personal stories of local Holocaust survivors and those fighting to prevent future genocides told through the eyes of students. Join us as we celebrate young filmmakers at Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust for the Voices of Hope: Student Film Showcase.Sponsored by Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.
- Sponsored by the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust
- Sunday, April 29, 3:00 pm
- LA Museum of the Holocaust
HEADING HOME: The Tale of Team Israel
Los Angeles Premiere!
Documentary/Israel/Japan/USA/South Korea/2017/85 minutes
Directed by Daniel Miller, Jeremy Newberger, Seth Kramer
FAMILY FRIENDLY FILM!
A stirring story of sports, patriotism and personal growth, HEADING HOME charts the underdog journey of Israel’s national baseball team competing for the first time in the World Baseball Classic. After years of defeat, Team Israel finally ranks among the world’s best in 2017, eligible to play in the prestigious international tournament. Their line-up included several Jewish American Major League players—Ike Davis, Josh Zeid and ex-Braves catcher Ryan Lavarnway—most with a tenuous relationship to Judaism, and never having set foot in Israel. Their odyssey takes them from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem where they are greeted as heroes, to Seoul where they must debunk their has-been, wannabe reputations. As their “Mensch on a Bench” mascot tags along, the team does much soul-searching, discovering the pride of representing Israel on the world stage.
- Q&A with Jenn Decker, wife of Cody Decker and former journalist for Sports Illustrated & Josh Rawitch, Vice President, Communications of the Arizona Diamondbacks, formerly of the Los Angeles Dodgers
- Sponsored by Shirley and Phil Sniderman, Susan and Mike Vizvary, and Brad and Andrea Sniderman
Preceded by
WENDY’S SHABBAT
Documentary/USA/2017/10 minutes
Directed by Rachel Myers
In memory of Rabbi Zeldin of Stephen Wise Temple
This uplifting film is about a group of Jewish senior citizens who celebrate the weekly Sabbath at the local Wendy’s fast food restaurant in Palm Desert. It is a story of rediscovering the joys of friendship and community again in older age, and in the longing for ritual, however unorthodox it may appear.
- Sunday, April 29, 2:30 pm
- Laemmle’s Town Center, Encino
COMMANDMENTS (Kipat Barzel)
North American Premiere!
TV Series, Drama /Israel 2017/2 episodes x 47 minutes
Written by Ayelet Gundar Goshen & Yoav Shutan-Goshen
Produced by Keshet TV
Hebrew with English Subtitles
Honoring David Suissa, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief of Jewish Journal with the Visionary Award
A group of angry ultra-Orthodox Jews surrounds a bus, yelling and throwing eggs on it. Aboard the bus? Haredi men who are signing up for army service. Inspired by the real-life young adults who choose to defy the strict conventions of their closed orthodox societies and join the army.
The series title literally means ‘Iron Dome’, as in Israel’s anti-missile defense system, but which can also translate to ‘Iron Yarmulke’. The show tells the story of those who don the uniform alongside their tzitzis and velvet yarmulkes — and about the way their families react when they return home. The soldiers have to both deal with a secular army that is still learning to adjust to the needs of religious recruits, while also coping with hostile reactions from their communities. The focus sits on three of the platoon members: Yaakov, an idealistic and devout hassid from Jerusalem, Amram, a wayward youth from Bnei Brak escaping something sinister, and Gur, a National-Religious soldier whose mindset becomes the subject of concern as the series unfolds.
- Introduction by Carolyn Ben Natan, Special Advisor to the Consul General of Israel
- Q&A with Yoav Shutan-Goshen, moderated by David Suissa, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief of Jewish Journal
- Sponsored by the Consulate General of Israel
- Sunday, April 29, 5:00 pm
- Laemmle’s Music Hall, Beverly Hills
SAMMY DAVIS Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me
Los Angeles Premiere!
Documentary/USA/2018/100 minutes
Directed by Sam Pollard
Sammy Davis, Jr.: Ive Gotta Be Me is the first major film documentary to examine Davis vast talent and his journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during 20th-century America.
Sammy Davis, Jr. had the kind of career that was indisputably legendary, so vast and multi-faceted that it was dizzying in its scope and scale. And yet, his life was complex, complicated and contradictory. Davis strove to achieve the American Dream in a time of racial prejudice and shifting political territory. He was the veteran of increasingly outdated show business traditions trying to stay relevant; he frequently found himself bracketed by the bigotry of white America and the distaste of black America; he was the most public black figure to embrace Judaism, thereby yoking his identity to another persecuted minority.
Featuring new interviews with such luminaries as George Schlatter, Billy Crystal, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg and Kim Novak, with never-before-seen photographs from Davis vast personal collection and excerpts from his electric performances in television, film and concert, “Sammy Davis, Jr.: Ive Gotta Be Me” explores the life and art of a uniquely gifted entertainer whose trajectory blazed across the major flashpoints of American society from the Depression through the 1980s.
- Sunday, April 29, 5:00 pm
- Laemmle’s Town Center, Encino
TO BE A CHILD AGAIN – ISRAEL
Documentary/Mexico/2018/58 minutes
Directed by Gabriel Volcovich & Moy Volcovich
English, Arabic, Hebrew with English subtitles
To Be A Child Again – Israel, is a snapshot of Israel, as seen through the lens of eleven selected children from different backgrounds and demographics. This candid view casts an intimate and personal light on Israel’s youth. We explore what they see, how they think, what they learn, and the astonishing impact their thoughts and lives have on their country and the world they are rapidly inheriting. It’s their opinions that matter, as they are the ones who are creating our future.
- Q&A with the director Gabriel and Moy Volcovich!
TZEVA ADOM: Color Red
Narrative Short/USA/2018/20 minutes
Directed by Michael Horwitz
Produced by Todd Felderstein
Hebrew with English subtitles
The story of two families in Israel on opposite sides of a conflicted border dealing with daily complexities, terrors and biases. When a YouTube video of an altercation between Ronit, a female Israeli soldier and Omar, a young Palestinian boy goes viral online, the two make an unlikely connection over social media, as they try to communicate the truth of what really happened that day.
- Q&A with director Michael Horwitz and producer Todd Felderstein
THE DRIVER IS RED (see description on April 28 with The Last Suit)
Animation/Short/2018/15 minutes
Directed & Animated by Randall Christopher
- Sponsored by Congregation Beth Shalom of Santa Clarita
- Sunday, April 29, 5:00 pm
- Congregation Beth Shalom of Santa Clarita
SEEING ALLRED
Documentary/USA/2018/96 minutes
Directed by Sophie Sartain & Roberta Grossman
Produced by Marta Kauffman, Robbie Rowe Tollin, Hannah Kauffman Skloff Canter
GLORIA ALLRED IN PERSON!
To some, Gloria Allred is a feminist prone to tawdry theatrics; to others she’s the most effective and fearless women’s rights attorney in America. In this intimate, warts-and-all documentary, one thing is certain: Allred’s 40-year devotion to asserting, protecting and expanding the rights of women is unwavering and her influence unassailable. And as the #MeToo movement gathers steam and powerful men fall, Allred declares: The fight has only just begun.
- Q&A with filmmakers Roberta Grossman & Sophie Sartain
- Producers in attendance Marta Kauffman & Robbie Rowe Tollin
- Sponsored by Temple Israel of Hollywood
- Sunday, April 29, 7:00 pm
- Temple Israel of Hollywood
A CALL TO REMEMBER: The David Schaecter Story
West Coast Premiere!
Documentary/USA/2017/30 minutes
Directed by Ken Winikur
Produced by Michael Berenbaum
Born in a small village in Czechoslovakia, David Schaecter was a young boy when the Nazi’s rose to power in Germany and is the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust. In this revealing documentary, David takes us on a journey — from his bucolic childhood where his family grew grapes for winemaking, to the struggle for survival he and his brother Jakob faced in Auschwitz, and finally, to David’s dramatic escape as the Allies invaded. As David pieced his life back together following the war, he was determined to remember those who were lost and became a founding member of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach.
Preceded by
116 CAMERAS
Documentary/USA/2017/15 minutes
Directed by Davina Pardo
Shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. This film follows Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss, Anne Franks stepsister, taking part in a groundbreaking project to preserve her memories. Facing a rapidly diminishing population of survivors, the USC Shoah Foundation embarks on an ambitious initiative to capture testimony as interactive holograms. Using innovative technology, users have virtual conversations with Holocaust survivors serving to educate generations to come.
Short/Animation/2017/9 minutes
Directed by Xenia Bernal, Fiona Fortunato, Ziggy Hicks, Grace Ma & Idalis McZeal
A production of The Righteous Conversations Project, a collaboration of Holocaust Survivors and teens, produced during Harvard-Westlake Summer Film in 2017. Jewel-toned, hand-painted animation created by a team of students illuminates the personal testimony of a child survivor of the Holocaust.
- Q&A with Michael Berenbaum, Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute, Ken Winikur, Stephen Smith, Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation and Samara Hutman, Righteous Conversations Project
- Sponsored Marilyn Ziering
- Co-sponsored by Los Angeles City Councilmember, Paul Koretz and the Department of Cultural Affairs
- In Partnership with the Sigi Ziering Institute at American Jewish University & the Righteous Conversations Project
- Monday, April 30, 7:30 pm
- American Jewish University
THE LAST SUPPER (Das letzte Mahl)
World Premiere!
Drama/Germany/2017/83 minutes
Directed by Florian Frerichs
German with English subtitles
On the day Adolf Hitler comes to power, the German-Jewish family Glickstein comes together for a family dinner. Most of them however (like so many other Germans at that time) don´t take the Nazis seriously. When young Leah reveals her plans to emigrate from Berlin to Palestine, her family starts disputing. Her father Aaron can´t see any reason to leave Germany, the country of their ancestors and the country he risked his life for during the first world war. But when Michael, Leah´s younger brother, indicates that he actually is an ardent admirer of the national socialist movement, the family is on the brink of being torn apart…‘The last supper’ is a very personal and intimate chamber play – but also a warning letter to a world in which populists and demagogues are on the rise.
- Q&A with the director Florian Frerichs from Berlin!
- Sponsored by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Co-sponsor by the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust
- Monday, April 30, 7:30 pm
- Laemmle’s Music Hall, Beverly Hills
THE SAMUEL PROJECT
World Premiere!
Dramatic Comedy/USA/2018/93 minutes
Directed by Marc Fusco
Produced by Steve Weinberger
Starring: Hal Linden, Ken Davitian & Ryan Ochoa
Eli (Ryan Ochoa), a teenager gets to know his grandfather Samuel (Hal Linden) for the first time when he makes him the subject of a senior year animated art project. With dreams of becoming a professional artist, Eli discovers that his grandpa was heroically saved from Nazi capture in Germany by a young woman when he was a boy. After hesitating, Samuel agrees to tell the story he hasn’t told in over 75 years. To his dismay, Eli is assigned to complete his project with an eccentric classmate Kasim, an electric guitar wielding school misfit.
BRIDE OF FINKLESTEIN
Short Comedy/USA/2015/21 minutes
Directed by Michael Schlesinger
Starring Cantor Phil Baron of Valley Beth Shalom!
When their car runs out of gas on a dark and stormy night, Biffle and Shooster make their way to the “kestle” of mad scientist Dr. Finklestein, who’s about to create a new bride for himself. Despite being aided by a hunchbacked assistant and a gorilla, he still needs someone to help complete the experiment. And guess who that someone is.
- Q&A with director Michael Schlesinger.
And
WENDY’S SHABBAT
Documentary Short/USA/2017/10 minutes
Directed by Rachel Myers
This is a story of rediscovering the joys of community again in older age, and in the longing for ritual, however unorthodox it may appear. There are themes of love, of ritual and of community – all within the context of a heartwarming scene at Wendy’s.
- Community Partner: Cafe Europa
- Sponsored by Chana & Phil Bell in honor of Sophie & Max Lazar
- Tuesday, May 1, 12:30 pm
- National Council of Jewish Women
Futures Past captures the power struggle between filmmaker Jordan Melamed and his father, Leo Melamed, Holocaust survivor and kingpin of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Set against the last days of trading in the legendary Chicago pits, what begins as a document of the end of an era, becomes a deeply personal exploration by a son returning to “the kill or be killed” world he was raised in.
Commodity trader turned filmmaker Jordan Melamed returns to his former life as the Chicago trading pits are threatened with extinction. ‘Open Outcry,’ the 150-year-old tradition of traders shouting out their orders, is being silenced by computer trading. Dominating this world is Jordan’s father, Leo Melamed, the imperious Chairman Emeritus of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the man responsible for changing the way the world trades. As Jordan gives us a crash course in the secret code on the trading floor, upstairs in Leo’s office, a long-dormant battle between father and son erupts, echoing the shouting in the pits. Open Outcry is their only common language and Jordan is determined to close the gulf with his father before the pits are silenced forever. Nearly 10 years in the making, Futures Past deftly examines the importance of human contact, whether in families or “the pits.”
- Q&A with Jordan Melamed & Leo Melamed
- In Partnership with Temple of the Arts
- Tuesday, May 1, 7:30 pm
- Laemmle’s Music Hall, Beverly Hills
HEATHER BOOTH: Changing the World
LA Premiere!
Documentary/USA/2017/62 minutes
Directed by Lilly Rivlin
At a time when many are wondering how to make their voices heard, when civil and women’s rights are under attack, this empowering documentary is an inspiring look at how social change happens. Heather Booth, a renowned organizer and activist, began her remarkable career at the height of the Civil Rights movement. Through her life and work this inspiring film explores many of the most pivotal moments in progressive movements that altered our history over the last fifty years: from her involvement with Fannie Lou Hamer and the Freedom Summer Project to her founding of the JANE Underground in 1964, to her personal connections with leaders from Julian Bond and Senator Elizabeth Warren. HEATHER BOOTH: CHANGING THE WORLD blends interviews, from close friends, clients, political colleagues and current Midwest Academy students to explore Heather’s legacy in progressive politics and organizing.
- Q&A Vivian Rothstein, community organizer and founder of the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union, one of the first feminist organizations of the 1970’s. She currently works with the L.A. Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), an advocacy organization working to lift standards for workers in the region’s major low wage industries.
- Sponsored by City of West Hollywood
- Community Partner: International Documentary Association
- Tuesday, May 1, 7:00 pm
- West Hollywood City Council Chambers, West Hollywood
Program with Jewish World Watch and special guest Malka Schulweis!
How do you end a culture of rampant rape? Congolese couple Camille and Esther Ntoto decided that first you must offer men a new vision of themselves and of women. Their program, Sons of Congo, is shown in this intimate, revelatory documentary through the voices of participants. In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the Ntotos work, roaming militias often use brutal rape as a weapon of war, and it is believed one of every three women and girls in the region have been raped. Educating men, one small group at a time, is helping disrupt and end this cycle of violence.
- Q&A with Susan Saltz, Camille & Esther Ntoto, founders of Sons of Congo and Africa New Day, moderated by Susan Freudenheim, Executive Director of Jewish World Watch. Special appearance by Malka Schulweis, JWW board member.
- In partnership with Jewish World Watch
- Tuesday, May 1, 7:30 pm
- Laemmle’s Town Center, Encino
CLOSING NIGHT!
IF YOU’RE NOT IN THE OBIT, EAT BREAKFAST
Los Angeles Premiere!
Documentary/USA/2018/86 minutes
Directed by Danny Gold
Irrepressible comic legend Carl Reiner and other celebrity nonagenarians regard the secret of vitality and longevity, in IF YOU’RE NOT IN THE OBIT, EAT BREAKFAST. This Hollywood reunion-like collection of delightful, freewheeling conversations challenges notions about aging. Joining the camaraderie are Mel Brooks, Dick Van Dyke, Alan Bergman, Kirk Douglas, Norman Lear and Betty White, and non-showbiz cohorts who still greet each morning raring to go. Offering years of insights and anecdotes, these spry seniors are as sharp, vigorous and engaged as ever, demonstrating there is still plenty of life to live after 90. Bookended by swinging performances of “The Best is Yet to Come” by Tony Bennett, and Oscar-winning composer Alan Bergman’s “Just Getting Started,” this inspirational, genial gem shows how the twilight years can truly be the happiest and most rewarding.
- Q&A with composer Alan Bergman (Yentl, Tootsie), director Danny Gold (100 Voices), and producers, moderated by Michael Schlesinger, classic film and music expert
Please note: Carl Reiner will participate in Q&A via skype (due to emergency dental work scheduled for tomorrow.) But he’ll be there…. - Rugelach sponsored by Factor’s Famous Deli!
- Wednesday, May 2, 7:30 pm
- Ahrya Fine Arts Theater, Beverly Hills