Los Angeles: JGSLA celebrates 30th, Dec. 6

It's a party!

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a Chanukah party and film festival, on Sunday, December 6.

The event runs from 1.30-4pm at the University Synagogue.

Join the group at a pre-holiday celebration to schmooze with friends and browse the library while enjoying latkes and applesauce, jelly donuts and other holiday treats.

Learn about exciting JGSLA 2010 conference plans and watch some of the great films shown at the Philly 2009 conference, followed by discussions.

Make sure to reserve, so they'll have enough yummy munchies.

Screenings include:

ALIEN VI (OBCY VI)

When a young Jewish man appears in a tranquil Polish village years after shameful local memories of WWII have long since faded, the villagers react with a surprisingly disparate variety of ways, reflecting their own ambivalent attitudes toward their collective past.

Unwittingly, the visitor reminds the local inhabitants of a world that has been out of existence for so long that many had thought it right to believe it never existed. People begin to confide with him, as if they sought to clear their minds of their memories or second-hand stories. When he leaves, the town will never be the same again. 30 minutes.

Who Do You Think You Are? - The Zoë Wanamaker Story

Zoë Wanamaker was born in New York, but when she was three her father, American actor Sam Wanamaker, fled to the UK to escape the anti-communist McCarthy witch-hunts. Hoping to better understand her father's decision, Zoë heads to Washington DC where she visits the FBI headquarters and under the Freedom of Information Act, Zoë gains access to her father's FBI file.

Wanting to explore the roots of her father's left-wing politics, Zoë next looks into the life of her grandfather Maurice Wanamaker, an émigré Russian Jew. Zoë is moved to discover that, soon after his arrival in Chicago, Maurice suffered a series of personal tragedies and hardships that almost destroyed his American dream. Finally, Zoë travels to Nikolaev in Ukraine where she discovers the original form of her unusual surname and the reason why her family left for America. 60 minutes.

Toyland (Spielzeugland)

2009 Oscar for best live-action short film. Set in the early 1940s in Germany, Toyland explores the guilt, the responsibility, and the small and big and lies during one of the most heinous periods in European history. In order to protect her son, Marianne Meisner tries to make him believe that the Jewish neighbors are going on a journey to "Toyland." One morning her son disappears, along with the Jewish neighbors. 15 minutes.

Suggested donation towards the incredible edibles is $10/member, $18/guest, payable at the door.

The JGSLA traveling library will be open from 1pm.

Reservations are essential so there'll be enough for everyone at this festive occasion. Make your reservation (name and number of people) with an email to Pamela Weisberger.