The 13th Annual Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival April 25 TO May 2, 2018
The 13th annual Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival will begin on Wednesday, April 25, 2018 and conclude on Wednesday, May 2nd with films from around the world celebrating the Jewish experience.
The opening night begins with a Bar Mitzvah or 13th year, style party and a tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. with the premiere of a new documentary Sammy Davis Jr. — I Gotta Be Me, an amazing Documentary made for American Masters which I was elated to see when it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Sammy Davis Jr. was the ultimate performer. His worldview was unique and self made just as he was. It did not conform to the liberal “style” of the time, but it was not conservative either.
USA/2018/100 minutes
Directed by Sam Pollard).
Sammy Davis Jr. was recognized as a groundbreaking entertainer who frequently found himself bracketed by the bigotry of white America and the distaste of black America and he was the most public black figure to embrace Judaism, thereby yoking his identity to another persecuted minority. The festival will feature a red carpet opening night with celebrities and VIP’s including Sammy Davis’ closest friends such as George Schlatter (creator of “Laugh In”), Burt Boyar (Sammy Davis biographer), Manny Davis (Davis’ son), and Tom Dreesen (actor, Opening Act for Sammy Davis Jr. ) who will also attend the filmmaker Q&A moderated by Stan Taffel, Sammy Davis Jr. archivist.
The highlights for this year’s festival include an Austrian Consulate tribute to filmmaker and founder of the Salzberg Festival, Jewish Émigré Max Reinhardt, a world premiere film event for The Samuel Project starring Hal Linden and Ryan Ochoa, a North American Premiere for the new Israeli TV series titled Commandments or Kipat Barzel in Hebrew with the talented writers attending the filmmaker Q&A and a fantastic closing night film that dives into a humorous look at aging with the very funny Carl Reiner documentary If You’re Not in The Obit, Eat Breakfast with a filmmaker Q&A including Alan Bergman, composer (Yentl, Tootsie), Director, Danny Gold and Producer, George Shapiro (Seinfeld).
The LAJFF is known for bringing a worldwide selection of new films with fascinating programs, major premieres, celebrities and VIPs. Find the full list in more detail at http://www.lajfilmfest.org
All the films in this year’s festival are highlighted here:
Commandments (Kipat Barzel)
Q&A with Ayelet Gundar Goshen and Yoav Shutan-Goshen, moderated by David Suissa, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief of Jewish Journal
Sunday, April 29, 5:00 pmLaemmle’s Music Hall, Beverly Hills
TV Series, Drama /Israel 2017/2 episodes x 47 minutes
Written by Ayelet Gundar Goshen and Yoav Shutan-Goshen
Produced by Keshet TV This Is The La Jewish Film Festival’s North American Premiere! Hebrew with English Subtitles
Honoring David Suissa, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief of Jewish Journal
A group of angry ultra-Orthodox Jews surrounds a bus, yelling and throwing eggs on it. And who is on the bus? Haredi men, 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 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.
PLUS …
If You’re not in the Obit, East Breakfast! f Q&A with composer Alan Bergman, director Danny Gold, producers George Shapiro and Aimee Hyatt, moderated by Michael Schlesinger, Classic film and music expert
LA Premiere!
Documentary/USA/2018/86 minutes
Directed by Danny Gold
- Reception sponsored by Factor’s
- Wednesday, May 2, 7:30 pm
- Ahrya Fine Arts Theater, Beverly Hills
Irrepressible comic legend Carl Reiner and other celebrity nonagenarians regard the secret of vitality and longevity; in If You’re not in the Obit, East 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.
And more laughter from filmmaker Danny Gold with his documentary
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.
- Q&A with Avi Liberman moderated by Cantor Kenny Ellis (Hanukkah Swings)
- Thursday, April 26, 7:30 pm
- Laemmle’s Town Center, Encino
Then we explore agelessness with a fascinating new documentary from media personality, Lillian Glass with …
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 80s, 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 and 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
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
In this classic screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s fantastical play, the royal wedding plans of Theseus, the duke of Athens (Ian Hunter) and Hippolyta overlap with the antics of forest fairies, led by Oberon and Titania, and a ragtag troupe of actors. Meanwhile, young lovers, including Lysander (Dick Powell) and Hermia (Olivia de Havilland), deceive each other in amusing ways, and magic adds a mischievous element to this enchanted romantic comedy.
A tribute to Jewish émigré Max Reinhardt
- Sponsored by the Austrian Consulate General in Los Angeles
- 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 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 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.
- Saturday, April 28, 8:00 pm
- Laemmle’s Town Center, Encino
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 and 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, 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!
- Saturday, April 28, 8:00 pm
- Laemmle’s Music Hall, Beverly Hills
Second screening of The Samuel Project
- Q&A with Hal Linden, Ken Davitian, Ryan Ochoa and cast!
- Monday, April 30, 7:30 pm
- Laemmle’s Town Center, Encino
Above the Drowning Sea
Documentary/USA/2017/92 minutes
Directed by Rene Balcer and Nicola Zavaglia
- Sponsored by Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center
- Sunday, April 29, 11:00 am
- Laemmle’s Playhouse, Pasadena
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.
Voices of Hope: Student Film Program
Voices of Hope: Student Film Program
Multiple directors
- Sponsored by Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust
- Community Partner: Jewish World Watch
- Sunday, April 29, 12:00 pm
- LA Museum of the Holocaust
Student filmmakers make you think. These are the inspiring stories told through the lens of a new generation. A mix of vibrant storytelling — including fiction, documentary, drama and comedy, this exceptional collection highlights very Jewish and personal stories told through the eyes of students citywide.
Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
2018 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary Short!
- Q&A with the director Frank Stiefel & Mindy Alper.
- Community Partner: MorningStar Commission
- Sunday, April 29, 3:00 pm
- Laemmle’s Music Hall, Beverly Hills
Documentary/USA/2017/40 minutes
Directed by Frank Stiefel
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-mâché 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).
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.
Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel
Documentary/Israel/Japan/USA/South Korea/2017/85 minutes
Directed by Daniel Miller, Jeremy Newberger, Seth Kramer
FAMILY FRIENDLY FILM!
- Sunday, April 29, 2:30 pm
- Laemmle’s Town Center, Encino
A stirring story of sports, patriotism and personal growth, Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel 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.
- Sunday, April 29, 2:30 pm
- Laemmle’s Town Center, Encino
Preceded by
WENDY’S SHABBAT
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 an adorable scene at Wendy’s.
WENDY’S SHABBAT
Documentary/USA/2017/10 minutes
Directed by Rachel Myers
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.
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 filmmakers!
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TZEVA ADOM: Color Red
Narrative Short/USA/2018/20 minutes
Directed by Michael Horwitz
Hebrew with English subtitles
Tzeva Adom: Color Red tells the story of Ronit, a female soldier serving in the Israeli Defense Forces, and Omar, a young Palestinian boy who gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. When she shows compassion towards him and his older brother, tensions begin to rise on both sides of the border. Now she must come to terms with what’s right and what’s smart in a world where social media runs rampant, everyone has a camera in their pocket, and acts of terrorism have become normal.
Our film tells the story from both sides of the border and ultimately presents a message of peace, tolerance, hope and responsible communication within the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
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THE DRIVER IS RED
- Q&A with filmmakers!
- Sponsored by Congregation Beth Shalom
- Sunday, April 29, 5:00 pm
- Congregation Beth Shalom of Santa Clarita
Animation/Short/2018/15 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. The Driver Is Red was officially selected for the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
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Women In Charge!
SEEING ALLRED
Documentary/USA/2018/96 minutes
GLORIA ALLRED IN PERSON!
- Q&A with filmmakers Roberta Grossman and Sophie Sartain
- Producers in attendance Marta Kauffman and Robbie Rowe Tollin
- Sponsored by Temple Israel of Hollywood
- Sunday, April 29, 7:00 pm
- Temple Israel of Hollywood
Directed by Sophie Sartain / Roberta Grossman
Produced by Marta Kauffman / Robbie Rowe Tollin / Hannah Kauffman / Skloff Canter
To some, Gloria Allred is a shrill 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.
A CALL TO REMEMBER: The David Schaecter Story
West Coast Premiere!
- 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
- Monday, April 30, 7:30 pm
- American Jewish University
Documentary/USA/2017/30 minutes
Directed by Ken Winikur
Produced by Michael Berenbaum
A Call to Remember is a remarkable life-affirming story that reflects the extensive collaboration between director Ken Winikur, Miami Holocaust survivor David Schaecter, and world-renowned Holocaust scholar, Michael Berenbaum, who also produced the film. 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. Through David’s story, we learn about the cruelty of intolerance and the power of the human spirit. A Call to Remember is a forceful condemnation of bigotry and a reminder that our shared democratic ideals of equality and understanding are essential for all.
Preceded by
116 CAMERAS
Documentary/USA/2017/15 minutes
Directed by Davina Pardo
Shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short, 116 CAMERAS follows a Holocaust survivor taking part in an innovative 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 about their life experiences, serving to educate generations to come. Among the subjects who agree to participate in this new storytelling platform is Eva Schloss, Anne Frank’s stepsister and a survivor of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Surrounded by a twinkling constellation of cameras, Eva relives painful memories while demonstrating her aptitude for healing and rebirth, bearing witness long into the future.
Michele Rodri: Dieu Merci
The Righteous Conversations Project, a program of Remember Us
Multiple directors
Jewel-toned, hand-painted animation illuminates the personal testimony of a child survivor of the Holocaust. A film by Xenia Bernal, Fiona Fortunato, Ziggy Hicks, Grace Ma and Idalis McZeal. Based on the true story of Michele Rodri. Producers Ruah Edelstein and Masha Vasilkovsky, Associate producer Elly Hong, Interview cinematographer Mimi Fuenzalida, Executive producers Cheri Gaulke and Samara Hutman. A production of The Righteous Conversations Project, a collaboration of Holocaust Survivors and teens, produced during Harvard-Westlake Summer Film in 2017. The Righteous Conversations Project, a program of Remember Us, is dedicated to the work of memory and creativity, and the power of relationship to nurture righteous action.
World Premiere!
THE LAST SUPPER (Das letzte Mahl)
Drama/Germany/2017/83 minutes
Directed by Florian Frerichs
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) did not 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 live 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
- Sponsored by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Monday, April 30, 7:30 pm
- Laemmle’s Music Hall, Beverly Hills
World Premiere!
THE SAMUEL PROJECT
- Q&A with Hal Linden, Ken Davitian, Ryan Ochoa and cast!
- In partnership with CSUN Jewish Studies Department
- Monday, April 30, 7:30 pm
- Laemmle’s Town Center, Encino
Dramatic Comedy/USA/2018/93 minutes
Directed by Marc Fusco
Produced by Steve Weinberger
Starring: Hal Linden,
Ken Davitian & Ryan Ochoa
Eli, 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 paired to complete his project with an eccentric classmate Kasim, an electric guitar wielding school misfit.
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Short Film Program
BRIDE OF FINKLESTEIN
Short Comedy/USA/2015/21 minutes
Directed by Michael Schlesinger
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 Michael Schlesinger
- Community Partner: Cafe Europa
- Sponsored by Chana and Phil Bell in honor of Sophie and Max Lazar
- Tuesday, May 1, 12:30 pm
- National Council of Jewish Women
FUTURES PAST
- Q&A with Jordan Melamed and Leo Melamed
- Tuesday, May 1, 7:30 pm
- Laemmle’s Music Hall, Beverly Hills
Documentary/USA/2016/89 minutes
Directed by Jordan Mealmed
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.”
HEATHER BOOTH: Changing the World
Documentary/USA/2017/60 minutes
Directed by Lilly Rivlin
- Sponsored by City of West Hollywood
- Tuesday, May 1, 7:00 pm
- West Hollywood City Council Chambers, West Hollywood
Heather Booth is the most influential person you never heard of. The newest film by critically acclaimed ilmmaker Lilly Rivlin, HEATHER BOOTH: CHANGING THE WORLD is an urgent response to the recent change in administration. 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. Anyone who has been confused or disheartened by the recent election needs to see this film.
RISING SONS / OUT OF THE ASHES
Documentary/USA/2017/58 minutes
Directed by Erin Heidenreich / Produced by Susan Saltz
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 and Esther Ntoto, founders of Sons of Congo and Africa New Day, moderated by Susan Freudenheim, Executive Director of Jewish World Watch. Special appearance by Malkah Schulweis, JWW board member.
- In partnership with Jewish World Watch
- Tuesday, May 1, 7:30 pm
- Laemmle’s Town Center, Encino
