Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC)
Silver Screen Sneak Peek: Guest Post
By Debra Pinger
This year, the Mayerson JCC Jewish & Israeli Film Festival will be bigger and better than ever, with 12 quality films, stunning events, and a closing night conversation with renowned film critic, Leonard Maltin, who will examine how Jews invented Hollywood and shaped the American dream.
As film is something I am especially passionate about, Sarah invited me to write about the three films the JCRC is sponsoring.
I’ve learned the power of film is not only the stories they tell, it is also the people they bring together.
A few months ago, I left Nashville after nearly four years as managing director of the Nashville Film Festival —one of the largest in the US— with over 200 films and 42,000 attendees. A highlight of my tenure was our partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to bring in 13 Kurdish films and filmmakers. Sid Ganis, Academy past president, and Tom Pollock, president of Montecito Pictures—both Jewish— flew out to help host our engaging, Muslim filmmakers and Nashville’s large Kurdish community. As we watched films, ate authentic Kurdish food and danced traditional dances, we learned from one another and built lasting friendships.
I can only imagine the many friendships that will be started and renewed during the coming month as we celebrate the outstanding selection of films at this year’s Mayerson JCC Jewish & Israel Film Festival.
The JCRC-sponsored films were selected because they challenge us to take an eyes-wide-open look at Israel’s history, culture, creativity, and resilience. We are proud to be a part of presenting them to you.
Rock in the Red Zone (Tuesday, Feb 16, 7:30 PM, Kenwood Theater) takes us inside the conflict zone to tell the story of the spiritual and psychological oppression of war, which is transformed first by music, and then by love. Compelled by the idea that Sderot was home to amazing rock musicians, filmmaker Laura Bialis found herself living there, only a kilometer from Gaza. She wanted to see “how good music comes from hard places, to learn how creation can come from a conflict zone.”
Sderot’s residents are refugees from North Africa and the Middle East and their children. Since 2005, the city has been under constant rocket fire from Qassam rockets launched by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Incredibly, from May to November 2007, more than 6,300 rockets fell on the city. Today, 75 percent of Sderot children are anxious and have a hard time sleeping, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD.)
To provide Sderot teens with a way to channel their anger and fear, musician Avi Vaknin went into the bomb shelters to found Sderok, a music club. His goal was to cultivate young artists through master classes with noted Israeli musicians. The results are legendary and what director Laura Bialis found there would change her life. Ariel Weiss, manager of grants funding at the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, saw the film in Israel and told me, “I loved it. I’m passionate about it. It had everyone in tears.” Here’s the trailer.
Operation Sunflower (Monday, Feb 22, 7:30 PM, Kenwood Theater) Set in the 1950s and sixties, Operation Sunflower, from director Avraham Kushnir, brings to life the dramatic genesis of Israel’s nuclear program. Not a documentary, this feature stars Baruch Brenner as Feuerberg, the scientist who led the team that created the program. Brenner is, surprisingly, both an actor and rabbi. He told the Jerusalem Post, “The Jewish world and the world of art are two ways to understand the world. Artistry is part of the Jewish world for me.”
The actor/rabbi found the historical background to be surreal. “Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion … was afraid that Jews had come from all over the world after the Shoah, and one bomb could destroy all of us.”
I think you’ll find this film to provide an unflinching look at the the moral dilemmas and political questions inherent in the making of a nuclear bomb. View the trailer here.
Oriented (Wednesday, Feb 24, 7:30 PM, Esquire Theater.) We continue to push boundaries and expand our understanding of the social complexity of Israel with the feature documentary film, Oriented. Freshman filmmaker Jake Witzenfeld brilliantly explores the contradictions of being Muslim, Israeli and gay as he takes us into the day-to-day lives of three Palestinian friends living in Tel Aviv. The three “are caught between two worlds: outcast by their country and challenged by their sexuality.” This is a heart-wrenching glimpse into their journey from Palestine to Tel Aviv to discover where home might be. Take a minute to watch the trailer.
I hope you will join us for these brilliant films. As French-Swiss filmmaker, Jean-Luc Godard, once said, “Photography is truth. Cinema is truth twenty four times per second.”
Now, where’s my popcorn?
