The Fall Jewish Film Festival is back this
year at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope with five films
that, according to the synagogue’s Rabbi Gerald Weider, will
provide "insight into Jewish life."
The films – "The Fighter" (Nov. 10, 8 pm), "The
Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" (Nov. 11, 7 pm), "The
Bombing" (Nov. 15, 7:30 pm), "The 3 Little Wolfs"
(Nov. 17, 8 pm), "Happy Birthday Mr. Mograbi" (Nov.
18, 7 pm) – were chosen from about 30 screened by the selection
committee for their controversial subject matter and their ability
to "engender discussion," Weider said.
"We felt there was a need and a desire for a festival of
films where people could see different aspects of Jewish culture,
history and contemporary life," said Paul Rothman, who curated
the film series. Encouraged by the success of last year’s festivals,
a fall festival at the synagogue and a spring festival at Brooklyn
Academy of Music’s Rose Cinemas in Fort Greene, the film selection
committee decided to expand both festivals, adding one more film
to the fall festival and two days to the spring festival, which
takes place April 16-22, 2002.
Rothman said that many of the films, like "The Fighter,"
which opened in New York this summer, are relatively new. Others,
like "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg," have proven
to be extremely popular.
To further stimulate discussion, one of the producers of "The
Fighter," Alex Mamlet, will be on hand after the screening
to discuss the film, and the star of "The 3 Little Wolfs,"
Tovah Feldshuh, will attend the showing of her film. "The
Bombing" will be followed by what Weider calls an "open
and frank" discussion on terrorism both in the United States
and the Middle East. Rothman added that the program would also
include excerpts from speeches Yasir Arafat has made to the Palestinians.
"The Fighter" is both a documentary and a philosophical
treatise featuring two Czech-American Holocaust survivors, Jan
Wiener and Arnost Lustig. Together the two friends retrace Wiener’s
escape from Nazi-occupied Prague via Italy to Britain, where
he joined the Royal Air Force, and finally his imprisonment in
the labor camp to which the Czech Communist government sentenced
him after the war. They also visit the concentration camp where
his mother was beaten to death by the Nazi SS.
Directed by Amir Bar-Lev, the film is not only provocative, but
also warm and funny, reflecting the intelligence, humor and compassion
of the two friends.
Director Aviva Kempner’s tribute to baseball’s first Jewish star,
"The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg," tells the nostalgic
story of this World War II-era Detroit Tigers batter who came
close to breaking Babe Ruth’s homerun record.
Interwoven into this documentary of Hammerin’
Hank’s career during the Golden Age of baseball is archival footage
that brings the ’30s and ’40s to life.
"The Bombing" goes beyond the headlines to present
a different picture of Middle East reality. The film explores
the perspectives of parents and siblings of the Palestinian youths
– suicide bombers – who died in the process of killing Israelis
in a downtown Jerusalem market in 1998.
The Jewish parents grieve, while the Palestinians bear the burden
of knowing their children died killing others, and the film,
directed by Simone Bitton, steadfastly refuses to take sides.
Feldshuh plays an overbearing Jewish mother in the true-to-life
comedy "The 3 Little Wolfs," directed by Joey Craine.
The feature-length indie film is based on conversations at a
family Seder and illustrates how a family secret becomes as important
as the Passover story. Viewers, however, need not be Jewish to
relate to the humor and drama that emerge at family dinners.
"Happy Birthday Mr. Mograbi" is about Avi Mograbi’s
vision of Israel’s 50th birthday. Mograbi is a documentary filmmaker
hired by an Israeli TV producer to make a film about these celebrations.
The producer wants Mograbi to respond to every development in
Israeli politics. A Palestinian colleague wants him to search
for the Palestine that has been lost since the Nakba ("catastrophe")
– pictures of places that used to be Palestinian and have become
Jewish settlements. And Mograbi wants to tell the story of the
Jewish dream – the purchase of a lot with the intention of building
a small house outside the city.
All films will be shown on state-of-the-art equipment, with surround
sound, in the recently renovated 150-seat rotunda area of Congregation
Beth Elohim’s basement, at 274 Garfield Place at Eighth Avenue.
The films will be shown on DVD or VHS and projected onto a movie
screen. Some of the films shown at the fall festival will again
be shown at the spring BAM festival, along with many new films.
In the meantime, the Fall Jewish Film Festival is a good preview
of what’s in store.
The Fall Jewish Film Festival runs Nov.
10-18 in Congregation Beth Elohim’s basement, 274 Garfield Place
at Eighth Avenue. Tickets: $7, $4 children. For more information,
call (718) 768-3814.
Some of the films shown at the fall festival will again be shown
in the spring Jewish film festival at BAM (30 Lafayette Ave.
at Ashland Place), April 17-22, 2002.
