The Ninth Annual Teicholtz Film Festival

The Ninth Annual Teicholtz Film Festival

Posted by Robin Menken

Award -winning journalist, filmmaker and author Tom Teicholz founded The Teicholz Holocaust Film Series in 2016, at Holocaust Museum Los Angeles, named in memory of his parents. Teicholz hosts, curates and conducts the panel discussions for the hybrid in-person and online screenings and discussions. The festival plays at the Grove AMC Theater in LA.

"My personal vision was that film is one of the most powerful mediums for reaching people of all ages and all beliefs to keep the memory and knowledge of the Holocaust alive – and that as Los Angeles and Hollywood are global film capitals what better place than LA to host a film series of films about the Holocaust, and what better place to host such a series than at Holocaust Museum LA HMLA) – as a signature event that distinguishes HMLA from other Holocaust institutions."-

Tom Teicholz

Each year is themed. This year's theme Aftermath: After Effects of the Holocaust: features the following films

"Operation Finale" (Thursday, July 10, 6:30 p.m) "The Pawnbroker" (Thursday, July 17, at 6:30 p.m.), "Enemies: A Love Story" (Thursday, July 24, at 6:30 p.m), "The Long Way Home" (Thursday, July 31, at 6:30 p.m), "Sophie’s Choice" (Thursday, Aug. 7, at 6:30 p.m).

Screening at the AMC Grove.

"For many survivors, liberation was a challenging and painful process as they faced the traumatic reality of entire families and communities erased while searching for safe refuge. This year's films explore the aftermath of the Holocaust, a time of consequences and fallout, loss and resilience, rebuilding and finding love again."

Typically the festival programs four feature films and one documentary followed by an in person panel which has presented Holocaust expert Dr. Michael Barenbaum, USC History professor Steve Ross, Dr. Holli Levitsly Director of the Jewish Studies program at LMU, Holocaust survivors including Eva Nathanson, and other subject-related experts.

The themes and films shown over the nine years have been:

2016: Hollywood does the Holocaust: "Woman in Gold",  "Conspiracy", "Schindler's List", "Genocide", "The Stranger".

2017: Resistance: "Defiance", "Partisans of Vilna","Unlikely Heroes", "Uprising".

2018: The Holocaust in France: "Au Revoir Les Enfants", "The Sorrow and the Pity (Part one)"," La Rafle", "Les Heritiers"

2020: The Holocaust in Italy; "Garden of the Finzi" "Continis", "Life is Beautiful", "Syndrome K".

2021: German Films about the Holocaust: "Jakob the Liar", "Aimee and Jaguar", "Naked Among Wolves".

2022: Intergenerational Holocaust Trauma: ""My Name is Sara", "Pizza in Auschwitz", "Speer Goes to Hollywood", “One Survivor Remembers: The Gerda Weissmann Story”

2023: Women During the Holocaust: "Martha Libermann: A Stolen Life", "Valiant Hearts", "Lost Transport", "Those Who Remained", "White Bird"

2024: Resistance:  "Terezin, They Fought Back" (Paula Aspell PBS documentary), "Son of Saul", "Who will Remain", "The Auschwitz Report".

2025: Aftermath: After Effects of the Holocaust: "Operation Finale", "The Pawnbroker", "Enemies: A Love Story", "The Long Way Home, "Sophie’s Choice".

Tom Teicholz is the winner of many awards from the Los Angeles Press Club, as well as the Simon Rockower Award from the Jewish Press Association and the Wagro Award from the Warsaw Ghetto Resistance Organization

His books have included: "Living in Color: What's Funny about Me" (withTommy Davidson), "Conversations With S.J. Perelman",  "9/12: The Epic Battle of the Ground Zero Responders" (with William H. Groner),"The Trial of Ivan the Terrible: State of Israel Vs. John Demjanjuk",

"Ivan of the Extermination Camp: How the Trials and Denials of Nazi Collaborator John Demjanjuk Added to Our Understanding of the Holocaust", and the Tommywood series of his collected writings.

About Holocaust Museum LA:

Holocaust Museum LA is the oldest Holocaust Museum in the United States and houses the West Coast’s largest collection of Holocaust-era artifacts. Since 1961, the museum has carried on the mission of the founding survivors to commemorate those who perished, educate future generations about the Holocaust, and inspire a more dignified and humane world.

The number of visitors to the Holocaust Museum has increased by 400% since 2010 when the original building was opened in Pan Pacific Park

The original Museum was at capacity and requests for student tours and public workshops continue to increase.  The Museum has been forced to turn away schools and tour groups.

On November 15, 2023, Holocaust Museum LA officially broke ground on their Building Truth expansion project,

designed by award-winning architect Hagy Belzberg, (architect of the original building). The new Jona Goldrich Campus's additional indoor and outdoor spaces will double the museum’s footprint in Pan Pacific Park, allowing the museum to amplify their reach and impact, and increase their visibility.

“Ten years from now most survivors will be gone. We need to take every opportunity to hear their experiences and carry on their stories.”

A new Learning Center Pavilion along The Grove Drive, adjacent to the existing building, will include a dedicated theater for USC Shoah Foundation’s Dimensions in Testimony; a 200-seat theater for film screenings, concerts, conferences and public programs; outdoor reflective spaces; two classrooms for large student groups and programs for younger audiences; and 2,500 sq. ft. of special exhibit space. In addition, a new Boxcar Pavilion built to house an authentic boxcar found outside of Majdanek death camp in Poland will be constructed on top of the existing building. The reopening is planned for June 2026.

Museum admission is free for all teachers, students and children under 17 and is also free for visitors all day Sunday.  100 The Grove Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90036