FAITH BRIEFS
Film on Jews has Hawai'i ties

The story of "Shanghai Ghetto," a documentary about German Jews in the late 1930s trying to escape Nazi persecution who eventually fled to Shanghai, has a local connection.

It's produced by Dana Janklowicz-Mann, whose brother is longtime Hawai'i resident Gilad Janklowicz, the host of TV's syndicated "Bodies in Motion," an aerobic workout show shot on beaches around the Islands. The story of their father, Harold, who now lives in Israel but visits Hawai'i annually, is traced throughout the film.

The documentary, which opens Jan. 31 at The Art House at Restaurant Row, tells the tale of the Jewish refugees who arrived in that exotic city, penniless and unprepared for life in the Far East. They thought that soon they would find a way to go back to the world they had left, but didn't know World War II would change their lives forever. "Shanghai Ghetto" features interviews with survivors and historians, rare letters, stock footage, still photos and footage shot in modern Shanghai, where most of the Jewish Ghetto remains unchanged.

Art House general manager Don Brown is arranging for a Jewish Film Festival, tentatively slated for Feb. 14-20.

Nonviolence event planned

The Season for Peace and Nonviolence will hold an opening interfaith event at 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at First Christian Church.

The event will feature prayers, meditations and songs for peace from many of the major religions of the world.

The Season for Peace and Nonviolence is a 64-day celebration of "sustainable peace, bookended by the birthdays of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas K. Gandhi.

For more information: Peace Team co-coordinators Sheryl Jai 479-5179 or Rev. Sue 696-8701.

Schools mark heritage month

For Marianist Heritage month, Saint Louis School and Chaminade University will be showing videos on the characteristics of Marianist education and hold a walkathon Jan. 24, Father Chaminade Day.

More than 800 students will walk from campus to Kapi'olani Park in a benefit for Aloha United Way.