Celebrate the Sephardic Educational Center’s 45th Anniversary and the 16th Los Angeles Sephardic Film Festival with special film presentations honoring our heritage and storytelling.
Click on each film poster below to reserve your tickets!
Festival Pass seating is first-come, first-served and subject to availability.
ONCE UPON MY MOTHER
In 1963, Esther gave birth to Roland, the youngest sibling of a large Moroccan-Jewish family in France. Roland was born with a clubfoot that prevented him from standing. Against everyone's advice, she promised her son that he would be able to walk just like everyone else and have a wonderful life. From that moment on, Esther devoted herself fully to ensuring this promise came true, albeit by being the controlling, dominating maternal figure throughout his life.
This is the true story of an incredible destiny and the greatest love of all: a mother's love for her child.
November 9
7:00 PM
Paramount Studios
5555 Melrose Ave,
Los Angeles, CA 90038
NEITHER DAY NOR NIGHT
A French-Sephardic family in Israel faces heartbreak as they confront prejudice and the clash between ethics and religiosity while struggling to integrate into an insular ultra-Orthodox community. When Raphael (Adam Hatuka Peled) is rejected by a prestigious yeshiva in Bnei Brak due to his Sephardic background, his father Shmuel (Shmuel Vilozny), a devout handyman, fights back, while his mother Ahuva (Maayan Amrani) seeks a peaceful solution. The conflict leads to shunning, culminating in a tragedy that echoes through the family and Haredi community, shaking the foundations of their shared faith. With emotionally rich performances and cultural nuance, this poignant drama weaves a story of parental sacrifice and the yearning for belonging in a world both isolated and unforgiving.
November 12
7:00 PM
Laemmle Royal Theatre
11523 Santa Monica Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90025
THE LEVYS OF MONTICELLO
When Thomas Jefferson died in 1826, he left behind a mountain of personal debt, which forced his heirs to sell his beloved Monticello home and all of its possessions. The Levys of Monticello is a documentary film that tells the little-known story of the Levy family, which owned and carefully preserved Monticello for nearly a century – far longer than Jefferson or his descendants. The remarkable story of the Levy family also intersects with the rise of antisemitism that runs throughout the course of American history.
December 3
7:00 PM
Laemmle Royal Theatre
11523 Santa Monica Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90025
KING OF THE SEPHARDIM
This film is a story of the groundbreaking journey undertaken by a unique individual who fought an uphill battle in his personal and public life, with exclusive access of the director to the archives of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and his inner circle. The film explains the Rabbi's political and religious points of view, while exposing behind-the-scenes stories of historical events in Israel and the Rabbinical influence on them. Although perceived as a controversial persona throughout his life, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was with no doubt a leading image in the religious world, as a rabbinical decision maker who often ruled with creativity, originality, and surprisingly liberal in his approach and understanding of modern day life. The film tracks his path in becoming a powerful religious leader.
January 7
7:00 PM
Laemmle Royal Theatre
11523 Santa Monica Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90025