You Don't Have To Be Jewish To Enjoy the Jewish Film Festival

The San Diego Jewish Film Festival is in it's 21st year. It runs for 10 days in various venues around town. This year I decided to volunteer at the event. That was a great decision. I met many of the people involved in this who work hard all year to make it a great success. When I say you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy the Jewish Film Festival, I mean the films they show have universal appeal. The movies they show all have a Jewish theme, from romance to war and everything in between. The filmmakers are also Jewish, but that's nothing new. Many of the Hollywood films you see are made by Jewish filmmakers.

I decided to concentrate on documentaries this year. My favorite film in this category was "In Search of Memory." It was about the life of neuro scientist Eric Kandel, Nobel prize winning scientist from 2000. It was fascinating to learn of his early life in Nazi occupied Vienna, and how he and his younger brother (age 9 and 4) went to America by boat in 1939. He took his family back to Vienna to see his home and his father's habadashery store. He even met some people who knew his family 70 years ago. I got goose bumps just thinking about it. I highly recommend this film.

Other films that I saw included "Canvas Man," the life of Robbie Ellis, 64 year old wrestler and art dealer. Yes, you read that correctly. He is a fascinating man, and is well respected in both arenas.

I also saw a documentary about the life of boxer Max Baer, and a film about Jews in baseball.

The most disturbing movie I saw was called Habermann. It was the story of what happened when the Nazis invaded the area called Sudetenland, on the German-Czech border, a very mountainous, yet strategicically important area. Here Germans and Czechs had lived in relative harmony for over 700 years, until the Nazis arrived. I found the movie very disturbing to watch, as this was an historical event I was unaware of.

The festival also showed romantic comedies, an Arab comedy that is very popular in Israel, and lots of short subjects by emerging filmmakers. Unfortunately I missed the latter. I always like the short subjects.

We have an Asian Festival in San Diego each year, and I will look for it when it opens. These films are of interest to everyone. They're not intended just for the identified group. Unfortunately most of them never make it to general release, so you have to catch them at the festival when they're here. Someone last night told me that some of the Jewish films can be seen on line, but when I looked at the site he gave me, I found nothing. If anyone does know how to see these films on line, please let me know and I will post it. There are many I could not see for lack of time. I don't need much of an excuse to go to the movies. I love them, and this was a worthwhile way to spend a few hours.