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My exposure to Jewish culture has been limited to reading The Diary of Anne Frank and Night in school and TV and movies. So this weekend, in an effort to expand my knowledge and support diversity, I attended the second-annual Jewish Film Festival. While I was impressed with everything I saw, two really stuck with me. (Read 225's article about the films here, including a synopsis of each.)

Thursday night's film, The Rape of Europa, is a fascinating look at World War II from the perspective of the art world. I was enthralled at seeing famous works of art being removed from their homes and hidden to keep from being destroyed or stolen. The Louvre's entire collection was packed and divided into various country homes with special curators risking their lives to secure the valuables. The Nazis illegally acquired tons of work (a lot of which is still being returned to rightful owners today) and painstakingly cared for it, while on the other hand slaughtering innocent people. To see Jews being forced to sort through collections for Hitler's desired objects, and stumbling upon their own possessions in the process was unbelievably heartbreaking. And to know I was sitting in a room with people that may have experienced that exact heartbreak made it much more poignant.

Saturday night was a three-for-one showing, but I was completely blown away by the final documentary of the evening, Blues by the Beach. There is absolutely no way I can articulate how powerful this film is. The bar patrons are all required to speak English, and prohibited from discussing religion or politics, providing a needed respite from the climate of their world. Until the bombing, this setting is not really different from any ordinary bar scene in the States. They were living regular day-to-day lives when everything was suddenly turned upside down into complete horror. I recently heard someone say that people are more interested in documentaries today because it's showing you what the news can't or doesn't want to show. When these things are on the news, we don't have a chance to know the people who this nightmare unfolds in front of. Here you get a glimpse into their lives, really driving home the fact that these people aren't that different from you. But the most amazing part is that amidst the pain, it's ultimately the story of survival, triumph and resilience. The "family" of Mike's Place reopened seven days later and continued their lives in Tel Aviv. While they still bear the physical and emotional scars of experience, they are alive to tell it.

Both films were followed with Q&As, and based on the responses, I suspect that each film had a similar impact on everyone else as they did for me.

While many stories are important to tell, these certainly hold a special significance in our community. There is no other place in town I could have been able to see these films, especially this one. To have a venue where people can celebrate their own culture and heritage, while providing an opportunity to educate others, is intrinsic to the success of Baton Rouge as a whole. In a time where our city is struggling with diversity issues, it's so important to have successful events like this specifically highlighting and showing the valued diversity of our community and what we can learn from embracing it.