BY KAREN YOUNG
The Laemmle Town Center 5 in Encino will have an advance screening of the profoundly powerful, award-winning 2010 Holocaust documentary, A Film Unfinished, on August 17, before its official opening on August 20.
There will be a post film panel discussion with survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto and renowned Holocaust scholar Dr. Michael Berenbaum, Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute at American Jewish University. The event will be moderated by Matt Friedman, Associate Director of the Anti-Defamation League, Pacific Southwest Region.
Directed by Yael Herskonski, this critically acclaimed documentary takes a new look at an infamous Nazi produced propaganda film about the Warsaw Ghetto circa 1942. With a fifth reel discovered in 1998 consisting of 60 minutes of newly discovered raw footage, Herskonski persists in steadfastly chronicling the production of this silent, unfinished film which she intersperses with firsthand accounts from now elderly survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto. The film carefully notes fictionalized sequences which falsely show “the good life” enjoyed by Jews, as it probes deeply into the manipulative direction and propaganda set forth by the original Nazi footage. In a filmmaking coup, Herskonski conducts an interview with the only Nazi cinematographer ever identified with the production.
The screening is presented by the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival (LAJFF) in cooperation with the Anti-Defamation League, Second Generation and Oscilloscope Laboratories. Among its many kudos, the documentary won the Best Editing Award, 2010 Sundance Film Festival and the WGA Documentary Screenplay Award at the 2010 Silverdocs Film Festival.
(L-R) Hilary Helstein, Festival Director of the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival and A Unfinished Film director Yael Herskonski.
“LAJFF is honored to have the opportunity screen such an important film,” said Hilary Helstein, Director of the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival. “It’s historical relevance makes it one of the most important Holocaust films ever made. It’s a must-see for everyone.”
Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 7:30 PM Laemmle’s Town Center 5 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino, FREE PARKING . All tickets: $10.00. Order online: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/122630 or or call 800-838-3006 (or in person at Encino theater box office) or at www.LAJFilmFest.org . German, Hebrew and Polish with English subtitles, Rated R.
Karen Young is the Editor/Publisher of MY DAILY FIND. Email: karen@mydailyfind.com
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