“Filmmakers are notoriously dissatisfied people. Their quest depends on the fact that not every story worth paying attention to has been told. So they set out like Don Quixote with their shining armor and a camera in hand. And they narrate. The plethora of these narratives is showcased in Jewish film festivals. Inquisitiveness is at the heart of their mission.” – Professor Ilan Stavans

Join us at this year’s film festival where we will screen over 40 educational, entertaining and enlightening films representing the Jewish religious, historical and cultural experience from ancient times to the present day. Films will include documentaries with genealogical and sociological themes, first-person narratives and memoirs, theatrical films, classic silent films, and those reflecting the Jewish artistic experience, including Yiddish theatre, klezmer music, and borscht-belt comedy. There will be portraits of Holocaust heroism, vanished shtetls, DNA technology, analysis of Nazi-era looted art investigations, and family dynamics, showing the challenges, risks and rewards of the self-discovery that comes with being a genealogist.

Filmmakers will be on hand at many screenings to introduce their films and discuss them afterwards. Details and schedule will be posted over the next few months.

If you have suggestions, submissions or questions about the film festival, or would like to sponsor a film or filmmaker, please contact the festival coordinator: Pamela Weisberger at: FilmFestival {at} jgsla2010(.)com.