Philly 2009: Film Festival schedule online

There has been much interest in the Philly 2009 edition of the Film Festival, and the program is now online.

Check it out here and organize your days so you can take full advantage of the entire conference program, including the film festival. Tracing the Tribe offered a quick rundown on the films for this year here.

Film Festival coordinator Pamela Weisberger of Los Angeles says:

• To see films at a glance, click on "Session Topic" -> "Film Festival" -> "Search."
• Click on the film title to see a description with synopsis and photo. Some films will be screened multiple times to make it easier for conference attendees to see them.
• Filmmakers, researchers, or other creative participants will be introducing, discussing and leading Q&As on many of the offerings.

This year's edition covers globetrotting documentaries, features and shorts in Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Columbia, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Germany, Holland, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Libya, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Siberia, Slovakia, South Africa, Tajikistan, the Catskills, the Czech Republic, New York's Lower East Side, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and, of course, Philadelphia!

Offerings cover personal voyages of discovery, sweeping epics of WWII bravery, Holocaust memoirs, court battles for restitution, travel in search of identity, Jews in basketball, telling jokes, singing and dancing, living and thriving, often in unexpected places and providing opportunities for both laughter and tears.

Pamela also thanks many people who suggested films for this year's edition. And, of course, if those suggestions couldn't be worked in this year, there will be another edition at the Los Angeles 2010 conference - the 30th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy - which will be hosted by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles in July 2010.