14th Annual Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival
Opening Night features the Los Angeles Premiere of the new documentary ‘Carl Laemmle’ on Thursday, May 2, 2019 at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theater, Beverly Hills will honor Peter Bogdanovich who also appears in the film.
Since 2006, the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, has presented successful programs while filing a cultural void in the Los Angeles community for affiliated Jews, unaffiliated Jews and non-Jews. It offers 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 and culture. The festival attempts to show the universality of Jewish values and experience through the diversity of the subjects of the films screened annually.
This year’s crop of films has some surprising and inspiring subjects, starting with Los Angeles icon, ‘Carl Laemmle’ whose son and grandson continue running the Laemmle and Fine Arts Theaters showing the best arthouse films today.
Carl Laemmle is a feature documentary about the extraordinary life story of a mensch.
This tale of the Hollywood titan who gave the world make-believe monsters then saved people from a real one named Hitler tells of a German-Jewish immigrant who founded Universal Studios, and later fought to rescue over 300 Jewish families from Nazi Germany. It was Laemmle as much as anybody who invented the modern movie business. Back in 1908, he led the fight against Thomas Edison’s ruthless attempts to monopolize the film industry. He also led the immigration of filmmakers to Hollywood where he founded Universal Pictures and created Universal City, an entire city built for the sole purpose of making movies.
Carl Laemmle — known to everyone as Uncle Carl — turned out a highly profitable roster of monster movies, westerns, and comedies. With an unerring eye for talent, he hired many who would go on to become Hollywood legends: Walt Disney, John Ford, Irving Thalberg, William Wyler, and others. Rare for his time, Carl also valued talented women — as he frequently hired female directors.
Shortly before Kristallnacht, Carl Laemmle began doing what few studio heads would do: rescuing Jews from Nazi Germany. Battling not just the Nazis, but the U.S. State Department (then notoriously anti-Semitic and uninterested in the fate of European Jews), Carl wrote hundreds of affidavits and spent a great deal of his fortune finding jobs and homes for German refugees. By the time of his death in 1939, Carl Laemmle had saved over 300 Jewish families, creating a legacy in their many descendants that thrives to this day.
Told through the stories of Laemmle family members and renowned experts including Leonard Maltin, director Peter Bogdanovich, Rabbi Marvin Hier, Ron Meyer, NBCUniversal, with the voice of Carl Laemmle portrayed by actor Willie Garson. About the film: Documentary/USA/2018/91 minutes
Directed by James Freedman to be followed by Q&A with writer/director James Freedman, Peter Bogdanovich.
https://carllaemmlethefilm.com/
Watch the Trailer: https://vimeo.com/293654483
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ72gQGwT6Y
Thursday, May 2, 2019 Ahrya Fine Arts Theater,
321 S. La Cienega Blvd. Beverly Hills
6:30 pm for Red Carpet Press Call
8:00 PM — Program Begins
Tickets for OPENING Night: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4195069
PARKING INSTRUCTIONS: Some metered parking on Wilshire after 7 pm (free) and other area streets, meters on La Cienega after 6 pm (free) and a FREE BH municipal lot on La Cienega and Gregory after 4 pm (closes at 11 pm).
Tickets for the second screening of “Carl Laemmle”
Sunday, May 5, 3:00pm, Laemmle Town Center Encino , Q&A with director/writer James Freedman
link to tickets sale in ENCINO: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4196809
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Celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day) with this LA premiere about Golda Meir, the mother of Israel! With an appearance by special guest and star of the film, Tovah Feldshuh. O
Q&A with Tovah Feldshuh and producer Dave Fishelson
Tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4195122
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKnSV-iYdTs
Directed by Scott Schwartz, Produced by Dave Fishelson, Dramatic Feature USA/2019/86 minutes
Celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day) with this LA premiere about Golda Meir, the mother of Israel! With an appearance by special guest and star of the film, TOVAH FELDSHUH!
Tovah Feldshuh recreates her award-winning, mesmerizing performance as Golda Meir in Golda’s Balcony (2019), the final masterpiece by the author of The Miracle Worker, William Gibson. The film, from a rare, multi-camera shoot from the play’s original run was recently unearthed (literally, from a safe) and assembled into a new but absolutely riveting motion picture.
Golda’s Balcony charts the rise of Golda Meir from Russian schoolgirl to Prime Minister of Israel, and is one of the most thrilling and amazing stories of the 20th Century. In this new film, Meir’s life has been transformed into a cinematic event of overwhelming power and inspirational triumph. As a play on Broadway, the work sold out over 500 performances, becoming not only the longest-running, one-woman show in Broadway history, but earning accolades far and wide.
Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog
Directed by Lynn Roth, Starring: August Maturo (Disney’s “Auggie” from Girl Meets World)
Drama/Hungary/USA/2019/93 minute, English and English subtitles when needed
Set during World War II, Shepherd is a family feature film about a beloved and valiant German Shepherd and a boy, Joshua, played by Disney star August Maturo (“Auggie” in Girl Meets World series). The story and script portray heroism during a crucial time in world history while celebrating the significance of our canine companions.
Kaleb, a beloved German Shepherd, is separated from his Jewish family when the Nuremberg Laws are enacted in WWII Berlin. He is adopted by an SS Officer who trains him to attack and round up Jews at a death camp. Kaleb is well cared for and good at his job until one day when he is distracted by a familiar scent. His original master, a young boy named Joshua, has arrived as a captive at the camp. Kaleb is overjoyed and Joshua finds solace in secretly visiting his dog at night. Joshua’s life is at risk. Together they escape the camp and after months of near-death experiences, they are found by partisans who help Joshua make safe passage to Israel.
Trailer:
https://thelittletraitor.wixsite.com/shepherdthemovie/about
The Tobacconist
LA PREMIERE! Directed by Nikolaus Leytner
Drama/Germany/2018/ 108 minutes, German with English subtitles
Starring Bruno Ganz (Downfall, Wings of Desire) as Sigmund Freud
Based on the international bestseller by Robert Seethaler
TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_eqtpuEAJE
www: https://www.menemshafilms.com/tobacconist
A tender, heart-breaking story about one young man and his friendship with Sigmund Freud during the Nazi occupation of Vienna.
Seventeen-year-old Franz journeys to Vienna to apprentice at a tobacco shop. There he meets Sigmund Freud (Bruno Ganz), a regular customer, and over time the two very different men form a singular friendship. When Franz falls desperately in love with the music-hall dancer Anezka, he seeks advice from the renowned psychoanalyst, who admits that the female sex is as big a mystery to him as it is to Franz. As political and social conditions in Austria dramatically worsen with the Nazis’ arrival in Vienna, Franz, Freud, and Anezka are swept into the maelstrom of events. Each has a big decision to make: to stay or to flee?
Skin, 2019 Oscar Winner
WEST COAST PREMIERE OF THE FULL LENGTH FEATURE BEFORE ITS THEATRICAL RELEASE!
Q&A with Oscar Winner, Guy Nattiv
Drama/USA/2019/119 minutes, Written & Directed By: Guy Nattiv, Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle Macdonald, Bill Camp, and Vera Farmiga.
After a difficult childhood drives him into the grasps of a white supremacist gang, Bryon (Jamie Bell, delivering a visceral, explosive performance) tries to escape to a new life, all the while questioning whether he’s capable of undoing — and repenting for — the evil he’s done.
Academy Award-winner Guy Nattiv makes his English-language feature debut with this galvanizing story of transformation, inspired by actual events.
Q&A with WALTER ARLEN, LA Premiere!
Directed by Stephanus Domanig
Documentary/Austria/USA/2018/94 minutes, English, German with English subtitles
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39Jcvqrv9sg
Water Arlen’s First Century paints a affectionate and multifaceted picture of a musician exiled in 1938, who only got to see his works performed late in life.
Exile music is not written by those whose lives were left unchallenged. Walter Arlen is now almost 100 years old — and the entire century comes to life again in his stories and in his music. From the “blue light of the last streetcar” of his youth in Vienna to the golden sunsets in Los Angeles.
Born Walter Aptowitzer in 1920 in Vienna, Arlen was forced to flee in 1938 and his exile mirrored that of many Jewish musicians in the 20th century. Arlen immigrated to the United States, a journey that began as one of loneliness and depression. What kept him afloat was his musical talent. As a young refugee, he won a composing competition, the prize for which was lessons with composer Roy Harris, and Arlen would eventually find shelter in Harris’s home. In the early 1950s, Arlen was hired as the music critic for the Los Angeles Times and stopped composing his own music. He only returned to it later in life — his works were first recorded and released when Arlen was 92. This screening is sponsored by the Consulate General of Austria in Los Angeles
LA Premiere!
Directed by Peter Kenneth Jones
Documentary/USA/2018/88 minutes, English, French with English subtitles
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/269392247
www: http://daumanpictures.com/lookingup
Henri Dauman has been called one of the greatest photojournalists of the 20th century. Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Miles Davis, Edith Piaf, Yves Saint Laurent, Marcel Marceau, Andy Warhol, Elvis Presley, JFK & Jean-Luc Godard have all found a home inside his archive of one million negatives. But for all his achievements, few know the details of Henri’s remarkable origin story. Orphaned at thirteen in the midst of the Holocaust, he set out to rebuild his family at any cost. Through love, persistence and uncompromising vision he achieved something more: an artistic legacy for the generations. (filmfreeway)
As one of the preeminent photographers of the 20th century, self-taught Henri Dauman took the international photo-journalism scene by storm with his cinematic images from the Kennedys to Buddhist Monks in Vietnam. Leaving behind his past as an orphaned Holocaust survivor, Dauman created a new life for himself in New York City, where his timeless style quickly gained momentum amidst high society and celebrity culture. Exploring both the photographer’s traumatic past and the contrasting vibrancy of the city that would define his work, the film is a testament to the resilience and perseverance of the man behind the camera.
According to TIME magazine, Henri Dauman created “photos that play like a slideshow of some of the biggest moments in American history and popular culture.” From JFK to Brigitte Bardot, Henri Dauman’s iconic photography defined the 20th century. Now he’s stepping out from behind the camera for the first time.
KP Projects is proud to present Henri Dauman’s first U.S. solo exhibition, spanning four decades as a photojournalist and photographer. Seminal, yet relatively unknown by name, Dauman’s work captures a powerful cultural and social narrative that serves as elegant testimony to modern America.
Soccer World Cup Story
Q&A with lead actor Asaf Goldstein in person! Drama, Comedy /Brazil, Germany, Israel 2019/90 min Director by Jorge Gurvich, English/Hebrew/Portuguese with English subtitles
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=PyeV_9Zb-U4
Its 2014, and Robert (Asaf Goldstein), a divorced 40-year-old, finds himself on an unexpected trip from Israel to Brazil for the World Cup with his father and son. His Brazilian father, a passionate soccer fan, has brought them to cheer on his beloved home team, but Roberts 12-year-old son hates soccer and would rather be anywhere else. What could go wrong?
Back to Maracanã is a heartfelt and humorous road trip film featuring three generations of men trying to understand one another and come to terms with lives that aren’t going quite as they’d hoped.
Directed by Daniel Syrkin
Comedy TV series/Israel/2019/155 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles
In this critically-acclaimed and darkly comedic Israeli mini-series, a leading contender for the Nobel Prize for Economics is found dead by his lifelong friends just days before the award is to be announced. Concerned that his potential legacy as a Nobel laureate is at risk, they decide to keep him “alive” until the announcement is made. Based on the book by Noa Yedlin and featuring a who’s who of Israeli actors, Stockholm is a funny and endearing portrait of friendship in the twilight years reminiscent of The Big Chill (for Jewish 70-somethings).
Official Selection — Toronto International Film Festival
Documentary/Docudrama, USA/Poland/96 minutes, English and Yiddish and Polish with English subtitles
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpXB2UruoUc
www: https://whowillwriteourhistory.com/
A new film by Roberta Grossman and Nancy Spielberg, featuring the voices of three-time Academy Award® Nominee Joan Allen and Academy Award Winner®
Adrien Brody with Roberta Grossman and Nancy Spielbergat the Q&A in person
In November 1940, days after the Nazis sealed 450,000 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, a secret band of journalists, scholars and community leaders decided to fight back. Led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum and known by the code name Oyneg Shabes, this clandestine group vowed to defeat Nazi lies and propaganda not with guns or fists but with pen and paper. Now, for the first time, their story is told.
Based on the book by Samuel Kassow, this film was written, produced and directed by Roberta Grossman (Hava Nagila, Above and Beyond) and executive produced by Nancy Spielberg (Above and Beyond). Who Will Write Our History mixes the writings of the Oyneg Shabes archive with new interviews, rarely seen footage and stunning dramatizations to transport us inside the Ghetto and the lives of these courageous resistance fighters.
About the archive: In 1999, three document collections from Poland were included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register: the masterpieces of Chopin, the scientific works of Copernicus and the Oyneg Shabes Archive. The Oyneg Shabes Archive is the richest cache of eyewitness accounts to survive the Holocaust.
On My Way Out: The Secret Life of Nani & Popi
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGQmL3o__w4
www: http://www.onmywayout.com/about-the-film
The forthcoming documentary captures the remarkable love story of Roman and Ruth Blank. A couple whose experience casts a light on the power and complexity of love, marriage, and deeply held family secrets. ON MY WAY OUT tells the love story of our grandparents, who after 60 years of what appeared to be the model marriage, revealed that they had been keeping a huge secret from our entire family.
As Holocaust survivors who tragically lost family members, their lives have been filled with darkness. But somehow, their remarkable spirits allowed them to persevere and “succeed” in America. Ultimately, On My Way Out connects with the core values of what makes us human beings, the need and desire to love and be loved.
All families have secrets. Having survived the Holocaust, Nani and Popi raised a family in America, endeared themselves to a wide circle of friends, and built a successful business. Now at age 95, a deeply-held secret is revealed: Popi is gay, and finally free to explore his identity and seek the companionship he craves. After ups and downs, one thing is clear; love is complicated. But the revelation is not without repercussions, as the news sends Nani into physical decline, with daughters scrambling to understand their parents in a new light. Awkwardly humorous at moments, and filled with love, “On My Way Out” is a timeless story that anyone who’s been in a partnership can relate to.
