Long Beach Jewish Film Festival

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

7:30 PM

My So-Called Enemy

This documentary film brings together 22 Palestinian and Israeli teenage girls who came to the United States in July 2002 to participate in a women’s leadership program called Building Bridges for Peace. This coming of age story focuses on six thoughtful, intelligent girls, who are articulate beyond their years, and how they reconcile their experience in the program with the realities of life back home in the Middle East. Seen through their eyes, this emotionally-charged film addresses the human consequences of all conflicts.

Saturday, November 19th, 2011

7:30 PM

The Human Resources Manager

This dark comedic film tells the story of a manager at Israel’s largest bakery who finds himself the unlikely chaperone of a deceased young Russian woman. The unhappy characters in the film are given no names but are known only by their professional roles, that is, until the young woman’s tragic death. Eventually, with witty dialogue and clever situation, they find comfort in each other and in life.

Sunday, November 20th, 2011

10:00 AM

My Architect

This is a fascinating U.S.-made documentary on the world-renowned Jewish architect Louis Kahn, who became one of the most celebrated architects of the 20th Century.  The documentary was made by Nathaniel Kahn, the son of Lewis Kahn, and represents his gripping search for his father who died in 1974. Louis left behind a complex life, which included two children who were born out of wedlock to two mistresses. Nathaniel has interviewed members of his somewhat confused family, but his most interesting experiences offer visits to the major, extraordinary buildings his father designed, including the Salk Institute in La Jolla and a massive government complex in Bangladesh. This latter building is quite a paradox: a Muslim capital designed by a Jewish man.

2:00 PM

La Rafle

This is a drama about three children who are seen playing in the streets of picturesque Montmartre, wearing yellow stars and unaware of the darkness that is spreading over Nazi-occupied France. Unfortunately, their parents do not seem too concerned, putting their trust in the Vichy Government. At that time, Hitler was demanding that the French government collect those of the Jewish community and put them on trains, which ultimately delivered them to concentration camps in the East. Collaborators began to put the plan into effect and within a brief time, 13,000 Parisian Jews, including 4,000 children, were collected and sent on a road with no return.

7:00 PM

Coming of Age

This is an Israeli film. Taking place in Haifa, a teenage boy gets a summer job with a Holocaust survivor who makes ends meet by brokering marriages and smuggling goods. Throughout the summer, the mysterious matchmaker takes the boy on a dangerous coming of age ride into the deepest underbelly of the Israeli port city.

The series is sponsored as part of the Long Beach Jewish Cultural Arts Festival by the CSULB Jewish Studies Program, the Jewish Federation of Greater Long Beach and West Orange County, and the Alpert Jewish Community Center.

For more information about the Long Beach Jewish Film Festival and to purchase tickets, please call the Alpert Jewish Community Center at 562.426.7601. Passes for the entire series cost $45.00, and individual tickets cost $10.00.