Las Vegas Celebration of Jewish Film scrapbook of brochures and pamphlets, 2002-2003

CONCEPT: A ?Greatest Hits? of the world?s Jewish Film Festivals presented to promote Jewish culture for the entire Las Vegas community. PROGRAM/PRESENTERS/SPONSORS: Of the sixty-nine international Jewish Film Festivals registered with the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, seven festivals have been invited and have agreed to be presenters at the second annual Las Vegas Celebration for Jewish Film (LVCJF). These participating festivals have each selected one film that has previously screened at their respective festivals and they will present that same film at the LVCJF. The seven Jewish Film Festivals that have agreed to attend as presenters at the 2003 LVCJF include, Denver, Haifa, Jewish Cinema South, Mexico City, San Diego, Sephardic International, and Toronto festivals. The participating festival representatives will introduce their selected film in person and will share information about the achievements and goals of their individual festivals. Filmmakers of the selected presented films have also been invited to co-present the LVCJF. Various Las Vegas based Jewish organizations are sponsoring individual screenings in order to provide cultural programming for their constituents and the greater community. These organizations include: Temple Beth Sholom, Congregation Ner Tamid, Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada, Milton I. Schwartz Hebrew Academy, Anti- Defamation League and the Holocaust Survivors Group of Southern Nevada. The LVCJF was conceived and is being produced by the Desert Space Foundation, a Nevada based, nonprofit arts and education, private foundation (see desertspace.org for more information). Sponsors for the 2003 LVCJF thus far include: Century Suncoast 16, Suncoast Hotel & Casino, KNPR 89.5 FM Nevada Public Radio and individual patrons. Additional sponsors are encouraged to consider participating. Sponsorship benefits include high visibility and credit acknowledgement in all LVCJF promotion, print and advertising. DATES/LOC ATION/CONT ACT: The LVCJF will take place Saturday through Monday January 18-20, 2003 over the Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend at the Century Suncoast 16 in the Suncoast Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. Contact LVJFF at (702) 898-0511 or (702) 562-8611 for more information. BACKGROUND: Betsy Cowan, the Managing Director and Joshua Abbey Program Director are the organizers of the LVCJF. There is also an Advisory Board and volunteers. The Desert Space Foundation is the umbrella nonprofit organization. The seven Jewish Film Festivals that participated as presenters at the premiere LVCJF in 2002 included Brighton, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Miami, San Francisco, Sephardic International and Toronto Jewish Film Festivals. Las V egas C elebration o f Je w ish Film Las V egas C elebration o f Je w ish Film Managing Director: Betsy Simon Cowan Program Director: Joshua Abbey Board of Advisors: Anthony Allison, Film Critic, Las Vegas CityLife Naomi Arin, Attorney at Law, Parker, Nelson & Arin, Chtd. Myra Berkovits, Homeless Education, Clark County School District Arlene Blut, Community Activist, Arts Patron Ginger Bruner, Operations Manager, KNPR Public Radio Dayvid Figler, Deputy Special Public Defender, Clark County Karen Gordon, President, Activity Planners Michael Novick, Senior VP Financial Advisor, Morgan Stanley Alan Pessin, Administrator, Coast Properties Desert Space Foundation: 501 (c) (3) non-profit private foundation 3902 Chinchilla Ave., Las Vegas, Nevada 89121 (702) 898-0511 phone, (702) 898-8792 fax Hdreal ity@aol .com The Desert Space Foundation was established in 1985. Desert Space Foundation Board of Directors: Robert Belliveau, President Rita Deanin Abbey, Secretary/Treasurer Desert Space Foundation Staff: Joshua Abbey, Executive Director Desert Space Foundation Mission: To promote the arts, humanities and education in Nevada by supporting emerging and established cultural organizations, and by producing original ambitious programming that enhances creative community activity.Las Vegas Celebration of Jewish Film January 18-20, 2003 @ Century Suncoast 16 in the Suncoast Hotel & Casino Produced by: Desert Space Foundation Sponsored by: Century Suncoast 16, Suncoast Hotel & Casino, KNPR 89.5 FM Nevada Public Radio, Temple Beth Sholom, Congregation Ner Tamid, Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada, Milton I. Schwartz Hebrew Academy, Anti-Defamation League, Holocaust Survivors Group of Southern Nevada, Consulate General of Israel (additional sponsors in formation) 2003 LVCJF Program: Saturday, January 18 @ 7:30 p.m. Toronto Jewish Film Festival Presents: Schmelvis: Searching for the King's Jewish Roots Sunday, January 19 @ 1:00 p.m. Sephardic Inti. Film Festival & JCC of Southern Nevada Present: Soleil Sunday, January 19 @ 4:00 p.m. Jewish Cinema South & Congregation Ner Tamid Present: Blue Vinyl Sunday, January 19 @ 7:00 p.m. Mexico City Jewish Film Festival & Temple Beth Sholom Present: A Kiss to This Land Monday, January 20 @ 1:00 p.m. San Diego Jewish Film Festival & MIS Hebrew Academy Present: All My Loved Ones Monday, January 20 @ 4:00 p.m. Denver Jewish Film Festival Presents: Solomon & Gaenor Monday, January 20 @ 7:00 p.m. Haifa Jewish Film Festival & Anti-Defamation League Present: Trumpet in the WadiOnce described as ?silly putty? because of an ability to fill difficult managerial roles and expectations, Betsy Simon Cowan has spent most of her adult professional life in public service to many communities and diverse non-profit organizations. On the job training as an intern in the White House Offices of Public Liaison and Private Sector Initiatives and as a presidential appointment to the Chairman, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission strengthened her skills in diplomacy, public relations, and understanding of pragmatic federalism. While living in Arizona, Ms. Cowan began a decade of meeting challenges and elevating the status and stature of programs for the Jewish Federation?s first Department of Jewish Education and for the Tucson Jewish Community Center (TJCC). In the eight years with the TJCC, Betsy spearheaded the annual Tucson Jewish Film Festival and the Performing and Cultural Arts Series, curated and administered the ambitious Message of Hope: Anne Frank in the World exhibit, and managed a staff of seventy. Her responsibilities encompassed fundraising, budgeting, procurement, marketing, and human resources in order to serve thousands of individuals, including hundreds of children in the summer, from the Tucson community. Her husband Major Cowan?s selection to instruct at the Air Force Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, brought the Cowan family to Southern Nevada in July, 2000. Upon her arrival, Ms. Cowan immediately began to establish a Jewish Film Festival in Las Vegas. Betsy Cowan has a Master of Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and a B.A., Behavioral and Social Sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park. Betsy Simon Cowan Managing Director Joshua Abbey produced the Las Vegas Literary Film Festival, the first festival ever to focus exclusively on films adapted from literature. At the festival authors like Chaim Potok joined their counterpart screenwriters to discuss the unique relationship between literature and film. As the Program Director and Community Relations Director for the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, Mr. Abbey established the first Jewish Film Series in Las Vegas, which included personal appearances by many important Jewish filmmakers such as Joan Micklin-Silver, director of Hester Street. As founder and Executive Director of the CineVegas Film Festival, Joshua Abbey secured the world premiere of the Paramount Picture?s new Star Trek film Insurrection for the first year of the festival. His original concept for the festival was to focus on the significant role that film festivals have played in the development of film history. This focus was achieved by acquiring the participation of the Festival Directors from Cannes, Locarno, (the oldest film festival) Singapore and Seattle who all came to present at CineVegas. A Governor appointee to the Nevada Arts Council, and a Mayoral appointee to the Las Vegas Arts Commission, Joshua Abbey is dedicated to the development of the arts in Nevada. Currently, he is the Executive Director of the Desert Space Foundation (desertrspace.org), a Nevada based arts and education non-profit foundation committed to offering free consulting services to emerging arts groups and creating and producing cutting edge arts projects and presentations. Joshua Abbey has a Master of Fine Art degree in Producing from the American Film Institute (AFI). His AFI graduate thesis film was entitled Monkey Park and stared Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth. Joshua Abbey Program Director SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Sponsorship benefits include high visibility and credit acknowledgement in all LVCJF promotion, print and advertising. Exclusive affiliation opportunities and other special arrangements are also negotiable. Sponsorships are available in the following categories: ? In-Kind Sponsors A donation of services to assist the technical and promotional aspects of the LVCJF. ? Individual Sponsors A minimum gift of $500 to help support the LVCJF. ? Community Organization Sponsors A $1500 to $2500 investment to cover the cost of an individual screening with all box office proceeds from that individual screening going back to the sponsoring community organization. There are only two sponsorship positions left in this category! ? Corporate Sponsors A minimum $1500 donation to underwrite the LVCJF. All contributions are tax deductible and checks should be made out to Desert Space Foundation and mailed to: Desert Space Foundation 3902 Chinchilla Ave. Las Vegas, Nevada 89121 (702) 898-0511 A confirmation letter gratefully acknowledging receipt of a donation will be sent promptly for tax purposes. In-Kind Sponsors: Century Suncoast 16, KNPR 89.5 Nevada Public Radio Individual Sponsors: Emily and Michael Novick, Gwynneth and Robert Weiss, Naomi Arin and Family, Carol and Jeff Zucker, Judy and Ronald Mack, Melanie Bash, Judith and Robert Mirisch, and Faye & Leon Steinberg Community Organization Sponsors: Temple Beth Sholom, Congregation Ner Tamid, Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada, Milton I. Schwartz Hebrew Academy, Anti-Defamation League and the Holocaust Survivors Group of Southern Nevada Las V egas C elebration o f Je w ish Film Corporate Sponsors: Suncoast Hotel & Casino Once described as ?silly putty? because of an ability to fill difficult managerial roles and expectations, Betsy Simon Cowan has spent most of her adult professional life in public service to many communities and diverse non-profit organizations. On the job training as an intern in the White House Offices of Public Liaison and Private Sector Initiatives and as a presidential appointment to the Chairman, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission strengthened her skills in diplomacy, public relations, and understanding of pragmatic federalism. While living in Arizona, Ms. Cowan began a decade of meeting challenges and elevating the status and stature of programs for the Jewish Federation?s first Department of Jewish Education and for the Tucson Jewish Community Center (TJCC). In the eight years with the TJCC, Betsy spearheaded the annual Tucson Jewish Film Festival and the Performing and Cultural Arts Series, curated and administered the ambitious Message of Hope: Anne Frank in the World exhibit, and managed a staff of seventy. Her responsibilities encompassed fundraising, budgeting, procurement, marketing, and human resources in order to serve thousands of individuals, including hundreds of children in the summer, from the Tucson community. Her husband Major Cowan?s selection to instruct at the Air Force Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, brought the Cowan family to Southern Nevada in July, 2000. Upon her arrival, Ms. Cowan immediately began to establish a Jewish Film Festival in Las Vegas. Betsy Cowan has a Master of Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and a B.A., Behavioral and Social Sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park. Betsy Simon Cowan Managing Director Joshua Abbey produced the Las Vegas Literary Film Festival, the first festival ever to focus exclusively on films adapted from literature. At the festival authors like Chaim Potok joined their counterpart screenwriters to discuss the unique relationship between literature and film. As the Program Director and Community Relations Director for the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, Mr. Abbey established the first Jewish Film Series in Las Vegas, which included personal appearances by many important Jewish filmmakers such as Joan Micklin-Silver, director of Hester Street. As founder and Executive Director of the Cine Vegas Film Festival, Joshua Abbey secured the world premiere of the Paramount Picture?s new Star Trek film Insurrection for the first year of the festival. His original concept for the festival was to focus on the significant role that film festivals have played in the development of film history. This focus was achieved by acquiring the participation of the Festival Directors from Cannes, Locarno, (the oldest film festival) Singapore and Seattle who all came to present at Cine Vegas. A Governor appointee to the Nevada Arts Council, and a Mayoral appointee to the Las Vegas Arts Commission, Joshua Abbey is dedicated to the development of the arts in Nevada. Currently, he is the Executive Director of the Desert Space Foundation (desertrspace.org), a Nevada based arts and education non-profit foundation committed to offering free consulting services to emerging arts groups and creating and producing cutting edge arts projects and presentations. Joshua Abbey has a Master of Fine Art degree in Producing from the American Film Institute (AFI). His AFI graduate thesis film was entitled Monkey Park and stared Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth. Joshua Abbey Program Director SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Sponsorship benefits include high visibility and credit acknowledgement in all LVCJF promotion, print and advertising. Exclusive affiliation opportunities and other special arrangements are also negotiable. Sponsorships are available in the following categories: ? In-Kind Sponsors A donation of services to assist the technical and promotional aspects of the LVCJF. ? Individual Sponsors A minimum gift of $500 to help support the LVCJF. ? Community Organization Sponsors A $ 1500 to $2500 investment to cover the cost of an individual screening with all box office proceeds from that individual screening going back to the sponsoring community organization. There are only two sponsorship positions left in this category! ? Corporate Sponsors A minimum $1500 donation to underwrite the LVCJF. All contributions are tax deductible and checks should be made out to Desert Space Foundation and mailed to: Desert Space Foundation 3902 Chinchilla Ave. Las Vegas, Nevada 89121 (702) 898-0511 A confirmation letter gratefully acknowledging receipt of a donation will be sent promptly for tax purposes. In-Kind Sponsors: Century Suncoast 16, KNPR 89.5 Nevada Public Radio Individual Sponsors: Emily and Michael Novick, Gwynneth and Robert Weiss, Naomi Arin and Family, Carol and Jeff Zucker, Judy and Ronald Mack, Melanie Bash, Judith and Robert Mirisch, and Faye & Leon Steinberg Community Organization Sponsors: Temple Beth Sholom, Congregation Ner Tamid, Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada, Milton I. Schwartz Hebrew Academy, Anti-Defamation League and the Holocaust Survivors Group of Southern Nevada Las V egas C elebration o f Jew ish Film Corporate Sponsors: Suncoast Hotel & Casino Las Vegas Celebration of Jewish Film Fiscal Year 2002 Gifts, grants, and Contributions 16,860 Values of services/ 6,500 Facilities in-kind Gross receipts from 3,520 ticket and merchandise sales Total Revenue 26,880 Airfare/Ground Transportation 6,638 Clerical/Technical Support 2,720 Facilities/equipment rental 5,540 Occupancy 2,796 Film Screening Fees 5,500 Reception food/catered meals 1,170 Postage/shipping 1,211 Insurance 1,000 Telephone/fax 94 Total Expenses 26,689Wli LUTHER IK JLMT mm* 1 vtilte of Jewish Film ^ /* <?10TH ANNUAL Bioor CinemaTORONTO JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS: SCHMELVIS: SEARCHING FOR THE KING'S JEWISH ROOTS CANADA, 2001, video, 76 min. Writer /Director: Max Wallace Was ?The King? kosher? Investigating the claim that Elvis? great-great grandmother was Jewish leads a diverse group of Montrealers, including an ultra Orthodox Jewish Elvis impersonator, a Rabbi and the filmmakers, on a quest to Memphis to find out what Elvis? fans think about this revelation. (He did wear a Chai around his neck.) But the trip bogs down in squabbling, diminished expectations (the ant-Semitism they expect to find in the Deep South fails to materialize) and a sense that the movie they?re making isn?t going anywhere. By the time the group heads off to Israel to plant a tree for Elvis, it all comes to a head. Funny, suspenseful and wickedly witty, Schmelvis wrings a unique spin on celebrity, Judaism and religious perceptions. It?s a hoot!SEPHARDIC HOUSE Institute for Researching and Promoting Sephardic History and CultureSoleil SEPHARDIC INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL & JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF SOUTHERN NEVADA PRESENT: France, 1997 35mm color 111 minutes French, Arabic, w/ English subtitles Roger Hanin, Director Warm, lavish exteriors and gorgeous performances by Sophia Loren and talented young actors convey the sensuality of North African Jewish culture. A 13-year-old boy's life is transformed when, along with several of his comrades, he is kicked out of school for being Jewish. Meyer's mother Titine, played by Sophia Loren, must raise her family alone because her communist husband (Phillipe Noiret, II Postino) goes into hiding. Remaining graceful and dignified as she struggles to keep her family alive and together, Titine charms local black marketeers into giving her food and goods when she is too poor to pay. When her son is caught writing anti-govemement graffiti, she talks the colonial authorities into keeping him out of jail. After living in relative harmony with Muslims and Christians for hundreds of years, Jews in Algeria were suddenly faced with the discriminatory laws of France's pro-Nazi government. SOLEIL is Algerian-born French director Roger Hanin's semi-autobiographical fiction, set in Algeria during World War II.COLDRING WQLDENBERG INSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN JEWISH LIFE liKurporaies the MUSEUM OF THE SOUTHERN IEWISH EXPERIENCE A Network of Jewish Film Festivals In collaboration with THE MONTGOMERY JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL October 28-November 1, 2001 THE NASHVILLE JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL November 3-5, 2001 THE MOBILE JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL November 5-8, 2001 Funded in part by a grant from the Jewish Connection Partnership, a project of the Jewish Outreach InstituteJEWISH CINEMA SOUTH & CONGREGATION NER TAMID PRESENT: Blue Vinyl Direction: Daniel Gold & Judith Helfand United States, 2001, Beta SP, color, 98 min. Activist filmmaker Judith Helfand, who explored the devastating effects of DES on her own body in A HEALTHY BABY GIRL, is not one to look the other way when a potential toxin gets too close to home. So when her Jewish parents affix vinyl siding to their suburban Long Island abode, she gets suspicious. Armed with a big blue slab from the home improvement project, Helfand marches straight to the centers of vinyl production to get the skinny on the seemingly harmless plastics, used not only to make cheap, durable siding but also flooring, toys, credit cards, IV bags - you name it. Taking a personal comedic approach, directors Helfand and Gold brilliantly link unlikely stories and characters across continents, race, and class to uncover the impact of vinyl manufacturing and disposal on the atmosphere, the food chain, and humans. It is not a pretty picture. You will never look at plastic the same way again. BLUE VINYL will ask Jewish audiences to reframe and rethink the tenet ?l'dor v'dor,? from one generation to the next, as the literal and unwitting passing onto our children of a dangerous and persistent toxic chemical burden. An accessible, haimish, entertaining, and intergenerational call to action.Festival Mexicano De Cine Judio nowm Aron Margolis - DirectorMEXICO CITY JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL & TEMPLE BETH SHOLOM PRESENT: A Kiss to This Land Mexico, 1995, 93 minutes, color & b/w 35mm, 16mm and Video Spanish with English subtitles Produced and directed by Daniel Goldberg Golden Gate Award 1995 San Francisco International Film Festival Prize of the Austrian Public 1995 America Film Festival, Innsbruck Gold Award 1995 Worldfest Houston Exploring the personal and human aspects of Jewish immigration to Mexico, A KISS TO THIS LAND presents fragments of memories and oral histories together with vivid depiction of the historical period of the 1920s and 1930s. Those who participate in this documentary present a picture of diverse Jewish background, people who were propelled to leave their homes in search of a better way of life. Along the way there were many frustrations and obstacles until they were able not only to adapt but to learn to love this new land as their own.13.Ul AvLMial SPONSORED BY THE MIZEL FAMILY FOUNDATION SAN DIEGO CENTER FOR JEWISH CULTURE awrpnrp Family Jewish Community Center, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS February 14-24, 2002SAN DIEGO JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL & MILTON I. SCHWARTZ HEBREW ACADEMY PRESENT: All My Loved Ones Czechoslovakia, 2000, 93 min, 35mm Czech with English subtitles Matej Minac, Director Home and family are everything to small-town doctor Jacob Silberstein. But as life becomes harder for Jews, Jacob and his wife must decide whether to keep the family together or to send their only son to England. A loving tribute to the ties that bind, this emotionally-charged feature was inspired by recollections of the director?s mother, one of hundreds of Czech Jewish children saved by a Kindertransport organized by English stockbroker Nicholas Winton.Presented by the Mizel Center for Arts and Culture and the Denver Film Society Sponsored by Starz Encore EntertainmentDENVER JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS: Solomon & Gaenor UK, 1988, 104 minutes, 35mm Directed by Paul Morrison English/Welsh/Yiddish with English subtitles This Best Foreign film Oscar nominee is a tragic love story about religion- crossed lovers. It's set against the backdrop of the 1911 Tredegar riots, where Jewish businesses in Wales were attacked and looted. An orthodox Jewish packman (i.e., door-to-door fabric seller), Solomon (loan Gruffudd), falls in love with a Welsh chapel girl, Gaenor (Nia Roberts), and conceals his religious identity. Both their families and their cultures thwart their love. In addition to the stirring love story in the foreground, the film explores the mutual suspicion and prejudice in the small, mixed community. Passions run high, whether the positive ones of the lovers or their negative opposition. The background is bleak and cold, a world of the miners' grit and the chill of a Wales winter, emblematic of the harsh orthodoxy that denies the lovers.V (f \ *? ' ? 'IDIli naan v?-n ?ww'jran Haifa 17th International Film Festival 200 \ -ampix 2-9 iiDiD yrmnHAIFA JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL & ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE PRESENT: A Trumpet in the Wadi ISRAEL 2001 Dir.: Lina and Slava Chaplin Pro.: Riki Shelach Sc.: Amit Lior, based on the book by Sami Michael Pho.: Itzik Portal Ed.: Bracha Zisman-Cohen Music: Eviatar Banai Cast: Alexander Senderovich, Khawlah Hag-Debsy, Raeda Adon, Salwa Nakkara-Hadad, Itzhak (Babi) Neeman, Imad Gabarin 35mm, 100 min. Hebrew/Arabic with English subtitles ?A Trumpet in the Wadi? is based on the novel by Sami Michael, one of the classics of modem Israeli literature. It?s the story of an impossible love between two outsiders in Israeli society. Alex is a new immigrant from Russia, and Huda is a young Arab woman from Haifa. She is very much a part of Israeli society; speaks fluent Hebrew, works in a Jewish traveling agency, even reads Hebrew poetry. Because Alex can play the trumpet marvelously, his magic tunes attract her to him. Her family is not very happy about their romantic relationship, because of the complicated political situation. Since Alex lives in Huda?s attic, they keep seeing each other, and will soon have to make up their minds whether they will stay together or go their separate ways. Huda finally comes to a very courageous decision and follows her heart, despite the difficulties the two are bound to face. Soon she will discover if this love story is possible at all.Las Vegas celebration of Jewish Film Festival The Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival and the Desert Space Foundation are proud to present the Las Vegas Celebration of Jewish Film on January 17 - 22, 2002 at Century 16 Theaters at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino. According to festival organizer, Joshua Abbey, the celebration is the first Jewish film festival ever held in Nevada and is a collection of the ?greatest hits? of the world?s Jewish film festivals. The festival showcases films selected and introduced by the Brighton, England; Hong Kong; Jerusalem; Miami; New York Sephardic; San Francisco; Toronto; and Las Vegas Jewish film festivals. The event will feature representatives from all of the participating festivals along with directors and actors of the showcased films. The film festival is sponsored, in part, by Century 16 Theatres, Suncoast Hotel and Casino, National Airlines, and KNPR 89.5 Public Radio, individual screenings are being presented by Celebration partners, Temple Beth Sholom, Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada, MIS Hebrew Academy, Anti-Defamation League, Governor?s Council on Holocaust Education, Temple Beth Am, and the Holocaust Survivors Group of Southern Nevada. Celebration schedule: Thursday, January 17 7 p.m. Trembling Before G_d. Tickets: $8 in advance, $12 at door - Call 804-1333. Saturday, January 19 7 p.m. Avanti Popolo Tickets: $8 - Call: 948-5030 9 p.m. Private reception for sponsors, patrons, presenters, and guests. Sunday, January 20 11 a.m. Trees Cry For Rain, and Pillar of Salt Tickets: $7 - Call: 948-5030 2 p.m. Intimate Stranger and Nobody?s Business, and The Sweetest Sound Tickets: $10 - Call: 794-0090 7 p.m. The Dunera Boys Scene from "Trembling Before G_d" Tickets: $7 - Call: 254-5110 Monday, January 21 11 a.m. Photographer Tickets: Donations only at the door, day of event 2 p.m. Island on Bird Street Tickets: Donations only at the door, day of event 7 p.m. Time of Favor Tickets: $7 - Call: 948-5030 Tuesday, January 22 10 a.m. Island on Bird Street Tickets: Donations only at the door, day of event Las Vegas Celebration of Jewish Film sponsors include: Century 16 Theatres, Suncoast Hotel and Casino, National Airlines, Desert Space Foundation, KNPR 89.5 Public Radio,Creative Impac.t Las Vegas Israelite,Las Vegas City Life, Call Your Travel Agent, Wellish Vision Institute, Rainbow Executive Suites, The Falls at Tropicana Offices, Morgan Stanley, and Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. Celebration patrons include: the Bromley and Norwood families in memory of Ira A. Bromley, Lillian and Henry Kronberg, Temple Beth Sholom Men's Club, Karen Gordon, Blanche and Philip Meisel, the Arin family, Judy and Ronald F. Mack, Sara Rubinow, Simon and Rabbi Matthew H. Simon, Rita Deanin Abbey, and Robert Rock Belliveau. This event is an all volunteer nonprofit effort to create a world class film festival for the entire community. Call 562-8611 for more information or visit desertspace.org.By Anthony Allison I Imagine if someone built a wall around your neighborhood. Imagine if they took your kids away and murdered them. And imagine if, by some horrible misunderstanding, they sent you halfway round the globe to an internment camp. Then, for light relief, imagine how you?d react to the Kafkaesque sight of a roomful of strangers all with the same name as yours. Four movies exploring these night?mare scenarios (The Island on Bird Street, Photographer, The Dunera Boys and The Sweetest Sound) are among the highlights of the inaugural Las Vegas Celebration of Jewish Film, which begins tonight at the Century Suncoast 16 and continues this weekend. This ?best of? selection from Jewish film festivals worldwide was organized by Joshua Abbey, who co-founded Cine Vegas in 1998, and Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival?s Betsy Simon Cowan and Michael Wishnietsky. They asked programmers from Brighton (England), Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Miami, New York, San Fran?cisco and Toronto to choose a favorite film and bring it to Sin City. The resulting program is intriguingly eclectic, but suffers the inevitable flaw of all film festivals: Too many movies, too little time. Viewers unable to join director Sandi Simcha DuBowski at the Jan. 17 screening of Trembling Before G-d can catch this extraordinary film next month, when it?s scheduled to open in Vegas. The other eleven flicks won?t be back any time soon, however. So here?s City Life?s guide, from the must-sees, to a couple for the ?rain check? file. Photographer ?320,000 Jews currently live in Lodz. It is impossible to evacuate them now. But we can place them all in a closed ghetto... The ultimate goal must be the total eradication of this plague.? ?? Circular from Lodz Provincial Governor Ubelhoer, Dec. 10,1939. Polish filmmaker Dariusz Jablonski's harrowing 1998 documentary brings the grim reality of life in the Lodz ghetto to stunning life, thanks to a unique collection of 393 color slides that were discovered in a secondhand bookstore in Vienna in 1987. Using Agfa?s first-ever color film stock, Austrian accountant Walter Genewein honed his amateur photography skills by recording the events unfolding around him, from 1939 to 1944. Diary entries by Genewein are contrasted with the vivid memories of ghetto medical officer, and Auschwitz survivor, Dr. Arnold Mostowicz. (Mon., Jan. 21,11 a.m. Program/ticket details: See CineLife, Page 44). Intimate Stranger I Nobody?s Business I The Sweetest Sound Alan Berliner?s The Sweetest Sound (2$01) is a hilarious examination of that old existential quandary, ?What?s in a name?? ?The ultimate goal must be the total eradication of this plague Jablonski?s Photographer. ? Dariusz You don?t have to be kosher The Las Vegas Celebration of Jewish Film has some gems no cinephile should miss But if you?re wondering why the guy who won a Golden Globe four years ago for that cute, genderbending coming-of-age movie is making documentaries, well, the director of Ma vie en rose was in fact Alain Berliner. Tired of being confused with his Belgian near-namesake, Berliner the documentarian began a hunt for answers that eventually led to his inviting a dozen other Berliners to dinner. Also showing: Intimate Stranger (1991), profiling Berliner?s maternal grandfather ? an Egyptian cotton magnate with an affinity for Japan ? that offers a compelling mix of family, social and world history; plus Nobody?s Business (1996), the aptly-titled profile of the most reluctant documentary subject imaginable: the filmmaker?s late father (who died in August): ?Who the hell would care about Oscar Berliner? I?m nobody!? he declares, before adding some warm, paternal encouragement: ?This is nothing! You make this picture, you make some other crummy picture next year.? So if a three- hour Berliner marathon seems like overkill, Alan reckons his dad?s helpful advice would probably be: ?Go home! I don?t know why you came here in the first place.? (Sun., Jan. 20, 2 p.m.) Trembling Before G-d A powerful examination of Las Vegas Celebration of Jewish Film When Thu., Jan. 17 through Tue.Jan. 22 Where Century Suncoast 16 Details 562-8611, www.desertspace.org/cjf.html or see CineLife, Page 44. Jewish gays and lesbians? struggle to reconcile their sexual orientation with thqir religion?s prohibition on homosexual?ity. (Full review, from City Life, Jan., 10, 2002: www.lasvegascitylife.com/display/ inn_film/film3%20trembling.txt) (Tonight, Thu., Jan. 17, 7 p.m.) The Island on Bird Street ?Imagine it Imagine if someone came and built a high wall right around your neighborhood, so you couldn't get out. That?s what the Nazis did to us.? For his pitch-perfect voiceover narration alone, Jordan Kiziuk richly deserved his Special Mention at the 1997 Berlin film fes