and their quotes in the film are
The Victor/Harder
cated." Feldman reveals that
having paid for the trip him- production team will receive the result of a myriad of inter-
self "makes me feel like a an award for Days of Joyon views conducted over a year
man." And Schwartz confides Feb. 8 at the Metropolitan and a half. In fact, Victor
Film Festival.
wound up with 60 pages of
that she's "not used to sitting
transcripts from which she
around; it's boring."
The filmmakers stress that none of the pieced the narrative together. "When I lay
events in Days ofJoy was staged for their out a show," she explains, "I pick out sound
benefit. "It would have been possible to bites that I like, put them on cards, lay
turn the whole trip into a large film shoot," them out in front of me and say, 'I know
says Harder. "But that's not fair to (the the show exists in there; it's up to me to
subjects) and it's not fair to the spirit of the find it.' "
Victor, who spent several years as a pro-
documentary we're trying to make."
Off camera, Victor and Harder rode the ducer at Channel 7, and Harder, formerly
tour bus with the JARC clients, ate meals a freelance advertising photographer/
with them, took them shopping and cared videographer,
for them when they were physically ex- formed their pro-
hausted. "We became so fond of these duction company in
folks," Victor says. "It was a wonderful 1990, after having
collaborated on a
family that was created."
Once back in Detroit, however, other variety of individ-
projects took precedence at Victor/ ual projects. At the
Harder. Lacking additional funding and time, both longed to
busy building their business, the film- steer away from
makers set Days of Joy aside for nearly commercial work.
The company
two years. Then JARC announced it would
debut the finished film at its annual meet- has produced edu-
cational videos now in use nationwide,
ing in May 1995.
"All at once we said, 'Oh my God!' and films for nonprofit organizations and the
Thank you!' We have a deadline! We have University of Michigan Medical Centers
to do this," says Harder, who points out (where they recently shot the visit by
a positive side to the delay. "It allowed the Hillary Clinton), and commercials for the
thing to ferment, and (for us) to get far Salvation Army and Forbes-Cohen Prop-
enough away from the actual experience. erties, among others. Victor/Harder is cur-
Because when you shoot something, there rently working with the California-based
are always things that are meaningful to Survivors of the Shoah Visual History
you at the time that may or may not be Foundation, interviewing Holocaust sur-
vivors in the metro area.
good film."
Though the financial rewards are neg-
For Victor, who scripted the film, one of
the bigger obstacles was compiling enough ligible, projects such as Days of Joy are the
sound bites from Feldman, Schwartz and pair's primary artistic motivation.
"We formed this company to make some
Folkoff to allow the three of them to tell
their stories in their own words. "I always purposeful, meaningful films and videos,"
thought (JARC staff members) would act says Victor. "I really wanted to go for the
as narrators," Victor says, "and as I got documentary. I wanted to explore ideas
closer to writing the piece, I thought, and help other people explore ideas. That
`I don't want anyone else to speak was where my ambitions were."
"We've still never made a penny on this
for (Feldman, Schwartz and Folkoff).'
thing," she adds. "We just kind of funded
And that became real challenging."
The JARC clients, she explains, express it ourselves ... This was a labor of
themselves sparingly before the camera, love." ❑
Above left: Harold Folkoff
Left: Lorraine Schwartz
Above: Jacob Feldman
JARC clients Folkoff, Schwartz and
Feldman are featured in the award-
winning Days of Joy, filmed on
location on the 1993 Miracle Mission.
Metropolitan Film Festival
Victor/Harder's
documentary Days
of Joy will be
among the 60 to 70
films screened at
this year's Metropolitan
Film Festival, Feb. 7-10, at
various metro locations. The Detroit Film
Coalition received more than 200 sub-
missions from around the globe (and they
were still coming in as of press time),
representing all genres of work: from
documentary to "the real artsy" stuff,
according to Gus Calandrino. Calandri-
no and Wayne Indyk, the festival's co-
directors, helped make the selections
along with a jury from the Detroit Film-
makers Coalition.
Days of Joy is not exactly experimen-
tal, but it will have what few other film
fest entries can offer: its three stars —
Jacob Feldman, Lorraine Schwartz and
Harold Folkoff— watching in the audi-
ence, and taking a bow. It's also grabbed
the interest of Channel 56, and from
there the possibility of airing on other
Public Broadcasting Service affiliates.
So far, the film's only screening has
been at the JARC annual meeting in
May, and people were "inspired and
awed," says JARC staffmember Richard
Thomas. Thomas chaperoned the 1993
Miracle Mission to Israel, where the film
was shot. "It's so well done. For families
and people who understand our goals, to
see dreams of that magnitude come into
being is a really uplifting thing."
q. 1
: The Metropolitan Film Festival
will feature a distinct two-hour film pro-
gram each of the four nights. No films
will repeat.
7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, at the Detroit
Film Theatre, free. Advanced screening
of Beautiful Girls with Matt Allan and
Rosie O'Donnell.
7 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, at the
Redford Theatre, $5.
Days of Joy will run during the 7 p.m.
show.
7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Feb.
9-10, at the Magic Bag Theatre in Fern-
dale, $5.
C11 (313) 417-5426 for more informa-
tion.