Movie lovers in Baton Rouge can pencil a film festival into their calendars this week. The eighth annual Baton Rouge Jewish Film Festival began Wednesday at the Manship Theatre.
The first film shown was “The Other Son,” a modern take on “The Prince and the Pauper” about two boys who were switched at birth.
This year’s event will feature four other films selected by festival organizers.
“We want people to see films with a Jewish theme and realize that these stories transcend what your religion is or what culture you were raised in,” said Aya Rubyan, festival co-chair.
This year’s selections include “In the Shadow,” a police procedural set in then-Czechoslovakia during the early 1950s. The film follows a police captain as he finds a case much bigger than himself, which Rubyan describes as “‘Blade Runner’ meets ‘Seven’ meets ‘Chinatown.’”
The examination of the Jewish role in American musicals can be seen Saturday in “Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy.” The film follows musical theater from its beginning productions like “Sound of Music” to the modern era, while showing its connection to Jewish culture.
A group of siblings tell the story of their father who survived the Holocaust in “Six Million and One.” This 2012 Munich International Documentary Festival winner for Outstanding Documentary Film evolves from telling the story of one man to illustrating how his children view the Holocaust.
The final film of the festival is the 1966 blockbuster “Cast a Giant Shadow.” The film is based on the life of a World War II veteran who helps form the Israeli Defense Force and fight for Israel’s independence. The movie also features Frank Sinatra and John Wayne.
“We hope that people will see themselves in these films whether or not they are Jewish,” Rubyan said. “In other words, we want to show that we’re all in this thing together.”
The process for deciding which films enter the festival is a long one, she said.
“We select five films for the festival by viewing at least 10 times that many films offered to us by film distributors. We try to balance documentaries with feature films, foreign films with films in English, dramas with comedies, films for adults with films for the entire family,” Rubyan said.
She said this year’s promotion methods will draw more people to the festival. The use of social media may attract the attention the festival is seeking.
“We’ve built up a fan base of nearly 1,000 film fans on Facebook, and we’re promoting the festival actively there,” he said. “Many of our Facebook friends will be there.”
Last year’s festival garnered enough attention to add an extra film, bringing this year’s total to five.
Tickets for the Jewish film festival are $8.50 per film and can be purchased online at brjff.com or at the door or by calling the Manship Theatre box office.
“We try to balance documentaries with feature films, foreign films with films in English, dramas with comedies, films for adults with films for the entire family.”