The Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival

For one week, May 1 through May 8th, the 9th Annual Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival will screen films that have been “chosen” from around the world that celebrate films highlighting Jewish heritage and experience. http://www.lajfilmfest.org.

This year's opening Gala Event will honor Carl Reiner, a pioneer in comedy, and include a tribute to the late Sid Caesar with a special showing of a rare 1974 documentary, Ten From Your Show Of Shows.  The event will take place at the newly named, Steve Tisch Cinema Center at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills.  

A couple of films that will certainly bring attention to their filmmakers are the Los Angeles premiere of One Small Hitch a charming romantic comedy directed by John Burgess starring Shane Mcrae, Aubrey Dollar and Daniel Travanti.

In this lighthearted and engaging  comedy, Molly (Aubrey Dollar, Failure to Launch) has promised to bring a boyfriend home to her mother’s Chicago wedding. En route from LA, she dumps one sketchy man, and instantly gets involved with a family friend, Josh (Shane Mcrae, The Help). This leads to two old friends innocently agreeing to fake an engagement to make Josh’s dying father (Daniel Travanti, Hill Street Blues) happy. Things quickly get out of hand with their two hysterically boisterous families. A series of events causes them to pretend to be a couple and start planning a phony wedding. When the play acting begins to foster real feelings, the two must make some serious decisions. The film screens at the Laemmle's Town Center in Encino on Sunday, May 4th at 7:00 pm.

Another movie to watch out for is the 2013 Phillippines' Offical Entry to the Acadmey Awards, Transit.  LAJFF is presenting the West Coast premiere of this world Film Festival favorite and directorial debut of Hannah Espia. This much praised Filipino film offers a surprising perspective on another aspect of Israeli society, with a poignant portrait of Filipino guest workers in Israel. Set in and around Tel Aviv amidst an immigration crackdown, the story crosscuts between the intermingled lives of one Filipino family and their Israeli-born children of mixed identity, who only know Israel as their “home” and only speak Hebrew. Moises is a single dad who works as a caregiver for a kind-hearted Israeli retiree while frantically trying to keep his young son Joshua hidden indoors. Also under threat is Janet, a domestic worker on an expired visa, struggling to hide her half-Israeli daughter, Yael– a rebellious tee. The film screens at the Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, May 6th at 7:30 pm.

For the complete line up of all the films, visit the Los Angles Jewish Film Festival website here.