Coming Attract' LONNY GOLDSMITH Staff Writer A $250,000 donation will give Detroit a second shot at holding an annual Jewish Film Festival. If it gets off the ground as planned this May or June, even as a modest two- or three-flick event, it would join 50 other such festivals around the world. Milton Marwil, former owner of Marwil Bookstore Inc. on the campus of Wayne State University, started the endowment for the Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival in honor of his late wife. She had spent more than 10 years working at the Kahn Jewish Community Center, most notably building up the senior adult bridge program up from two tables to 18 when she left. "Films are something we know my wife was interested in," Milton Marwil said. He felt that her name should be attached to something he knew she would like and would "bring enjoy- ment to other people." In 1997, the Michigan Israel Marwil said he approached the JCC with the film festival idea and found himself knocking on an open door. The JCC leader- ship had been $250, 000 endowment will let JCC start a Jewish Film Festival this spring. Lonny Goldsmith can be reached at (248) 354-6060 ext 263, or by e-mail at: lgoldsmith@thejewishnews.corn. Chamber of Commerce ran an Israeli Film Festival. It didn't get a return engagement, although Michael Traison, then-president of the cham- ber, said the 10-film event drew more than 1,000 people to the Maple Art Theatre in Bloomfield Township. looking to add just that to its repertoire, seeing it as a springtime complement to the fall Jewish Book Fair. Lenore Marwil Sizing Up The Festivals LONNY GOLDSMITH Staff Writer A quarter of a million dollars isn't chump change but, warns Shlomo Schwartzberg, programming director of Toronto's highly regarded Jewish Film Festival, it can get used up mighty fast. "It's a lot of work," said Schwartzberg, who works six months full- time to organize the Toronto event. He spends more than $250,000 annually to put on the festival, he said, noting the budget includes salaries as well as exhibition rights to films. "We try to show a variety of Jewish life films: documentaries, shorts, fea- tures, Israeli, Yiddish," he said, adding that the films tend to lean towards the older generation. "Israeli films tend to be more popular in Toronto and Montreal because they are generally more conservative. If we don't show an Israeli feature, we get flack for it." Last year, the French-film Soleil starring Sophia Loren made the rounds on the festival circuit, as did the Oscar-winning The Long Way Home and Mendel, a coming-of-age story of a young boy whose family resettles in Norway in the 1950s. One of last year's more anticipated screenings, according to festival observers, was The Truce starring John Turturro as the author Primo Levi. Margo Weitzer of the Detroit JCC said she hopes the festival will encourage involvement in other community activ- ities, but Schwartzberg isn't as san- guine. He said surveys in Toronto showed that the film festival is the only Jewish thing many attendees go to. Other cities offer elaborate and successful film programs. 1/22 1999 8 Detroit Jewish News The modest-sized Jewish community of Hartford, Conn., is now in its third festi- val year, even though it is just two hours' drive away from New York and Boston with solidly estab- lished festivals. According to Lisa Kassow, adult edu- cation director for the Greater Hartford JCC, the festival had eight films in its first year and 13 last year, when it spent $18,000. "Like any pro- gram that you start from scratch, it's like reinventing the wheel," she said. "We had to learn In Our own Bands: The hidden story of the Jewish brigade in WWII The Truce Out For Love... Be Back Shortly Evgueni Khaidek Photographer Under Stalin The Jew in The Lotus The Long Way Bowe CISCO ‘ mmzmamamtaxtillociiiiiislitiihitiookiiititat***Nolawaseasommatftwast Best Mant Isvventy Tears Later Farewell nollywoodisma Jews, Movies, and the American Dream Mother Stayed There Men s'''