Editor

The Museum of Tolerance will present the First Museum of Tolerance International Film Festival (MOTIFF) November 13-18, 2010 in Los Angeles, it was announced today by Museum officials.  Festival offerings will be screened in several theaters including the 300-seat state-of-the-art Peltz Theatre.

The MOTIFF will be screening films from around the globe that shine a light on human rights issues both past and present.  Intertwined with classic films that bolster the Museum of Tolerance's mission, the festival will offer moviegoers six days of education, understanding and culture.

The MOTIFF will announce its lineup of films (including Opening Night, Centerpiece, and Closing Night movies) in late September.  The Museum of Tolerance International Film Festival Gala will take place on Sunday evening, November 14.  The evening salutes films and filmmakers who have embraced issues of Tolerance and Human Rights.  A number of awards will be presented including the "Tolerance Award" honoring an accomplished filmmaker whose films have brought awareness to themes encouraging tolerance, justice and human rights. 

Accepting the festival's first Tolerance Award is acclaimed filmmaker Clint Eastwood. 

"We believe Mr. Eastwood is a superb choice for this award, which celebrates those whose work shines a light on themes of acceptance, inclusion, tolerance and forgiveness.  That is certainly true of Mr. Eastwood's outstanding cinematic achievements, with only the most recent examples being ‘Letters from Iwo Jima,' ‘Gran Torino' and ‘Invictus,'" said Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founding Director of the MOTIFF and Founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its acclaimed Museum of Tolerance.

The Museum has named Randi Emerman as Executive Director of the festival. 
Emerman, who has been active in the film industry for two decades, has served as Executive Director of the Palm Beach International Film Festival since 2001. 

"The Museum of Tolerance International Film Festival seeks to explore human rights issues and prevent hatred and genocide through the medium of film," said Rabbi Hier.  "Cinema leaves a lasting impression on its audiences and is a valuable way to instill the museum's vision in a new audience.  The MOTIFF is a powerful outlet for the MOT to further their mission of promoting respect and mutual understanding."

MOTIFF is currently considering including feature narratives that speak out about or tell a story of human rights.  Information about submitting films can be accessed at www.museumoftolerance/motiff.  Filmmakers can also submit films at withoutabox.com.  The deadline for submissions is September 20, 2010.  The MOTIFF office phone number is 310-772-2408.

The educational arm of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Museum of Tolerance, founded in 1993, challenges visitors to confront bigotry and racism, and to understand the Holocaust in both historic and contemporary contexts.  It hosts almost half a million visitors annually including 110,000 students.  Because of the success of the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, the Center also opened the Museum of Tolerance in New York in midtown Manhattan and the Center for Human Dignity-Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem is currently under construction.