‘The Boys’ opening 11th annual Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival

It truly is a small world after all. At least at the 11th annual Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival.

Southern Nevada's longest-running film festival, which begins Saturday night, spotlights a dozen features and documentaries that will transport local audiences from the U.S. Civil War to contemporary Israel, from Nevada's Comstock Lode to early 20th-century Vienna.

The festival's opening-night attraction, "The Boys," takes place in Hollywood, where Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman -- the brothers who wrote "It's a Small World," the Oscar-winning "Mary Poppins" score and other beloved songs -- never found similar harmony in their personal relationship.

After Saturday night and Sunday afternoon screenings, the festival picks up again Thursday night and continues Jan. 21-22, Jan. 25 and Jan. 28-29.

All but two events take place at Summerlin's Adelson Educational Campus; the other two will be held at the South Point's Century 18 multiplex. (Complete festival information is available online at www.lvjff.org.)

This year's attractions -- evenly split between narrative and documentary features -- are "all really strong in their own right," according to festival director Joshua Abbey.

In part, that's due to the way the festival selections are chosen, he explains.

Unlike most festivals, where a jury chooses the lineup, the Jewish Film Festival follows "a formula of having a finite number of high-quality films, democratically selected" by local Jewish organizations.

For example, the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada sponsors Saturday night's screening of "The Boys."

Directors -- and first cousins -- Jeff and Gregg Sherman plan to discuss the documentary following the screening.

"The Boys" has played 19 festivals around the world, from Scotland to New Zealand, and wherever it's played, the documentary strikes a chord with audiences regardless of background, according to the filmmakers.

"Really, it comes down to family," in Jeff Sherman's view.

"The irony is that the foremost songwriters in family entertainment couldn't get their own families in the same room," observes Gregg Sherman, who notes that he and his cousin grew up a few blocks from each other but "went almost four decades without speaking" because of their fathers' personal estrangement.

The cousins finally connected at a London stage production of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," according to Jeff Sherman. By the time a production of "Mary Poppins" hit Broadway, they brought two camera crews to record the documentary's first dozen interviews.

Eventually, the boys making "The Boys" conducted 88 interviews with everyone from Mary Poppins herself, Julie Andrews, to another Oscar winner, composer John Williams.

In the process, the cousins cut "thousands of hours of footage" down to a 90-minute documentary, Gregg Sherman says.

"The Boys" also focuses on the title songwriters' relationship with Walt Disney, who "was like a second father to them," Jeff Sherman says.

Overall, the movie adds another dimension to the Sherman Brothers' songs, which focus on "family, friendships and kindness," he comments. "It's to bring these songs back" and remind audiences "they're not just songs in a kids' movie."

Closing the festival Jan. 29: the documentary "Jews in Nevada" -- based on John Marschall's book and produced by Reno's PBS affiliate.

The documentary covers 150 years of Silver State history and begins with the 19th-century Northern Nevada mining boom but widens its focus to include the growth of Las Vegas' tourist-based economy -- and its Jewish support system, according to producer Patty Zubov .

Local historian Michael Green, who's featured in the documentary, will moderate the screening.

And while festival audiences will see a rough cut of the documentary, "people will be very helpful" in providing feedback for the filmmakers as they complete final editing, Zubov says.

In between "The Boys" and "Jews of Nevada," audiences will see such documentaries as "Dolphin Boy" (screening at 4 p.m. Jan. 22), about a traumatized Palestinian boy who recovers at a special treatment facility.

The movie provides "a very inclusive picture of the diversity of Israeli society," Abbey comments. "It definitely breaks some stereotypes."

Other documentaries focus on "Otto Frank" (at 1 p.m. Sunday), "Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray" (screening at 1 p.m. Jan. 22) and "Tango, A Story With Jews" (7 p.m. Jan. 25), about the contributions of Jewish klezmer musicians to Argentina's trademark music.

Narrative films range from the Holocaust drama "Joanna" (7 p.m. Thursday at the South Point) to the fact-based "Mahler on the Couch" (7 p.m. Jan. 21), in which composer Gustav Mahler consults Sigmund Freud in the wake of his wife Alma's affair with architect Walter Gropius.

All festival features will have moderated post-screening discussions, allowing "the audience to get much greater insight into the filmmaking process" and "actually share impressions," Abbey notes. "That's what makes a film festival special."

Contact movie critic Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.