Michigan: 'Tree of Life' film, April 26

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan (JGSMI) will present a special event on the opening day of the Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival, in Walled Lake's Commerce Theater on Sunday, April 26.

"The Tree of Life" by filmmaker Hava Volterra will be screened as a fund-raising event for the society.

The $18 ticket includes bagels and coffee (11.45am), the film (12.30pm) and a deductible donation to JGSMI.

The Tree of Life, a remarkable film of great beauty and substance, begins with Hava Volterra recalling how one day, speaking with her father she thought that he sounded old. She wanted him to go and visit, Italy, the land of his birth.

Unfortunately, her father died before the trip could be made. Hava takes the trip her father could not make.

Volterra shows us a life lived by a man who thought himself a failure. But she discovers surprises as she shakes the family tree; bankers, a prime minister, a famous American politician, etc.

Volterra's trip to her ancestral land teaches us how to see what has been in front of us all the time.

For tickets and more information, see the JGSMI site.