whose 30-plus years of television productions include
the Tony Awards, Streisand specials and opening cere-
monies of Israel's 50th anniversary celebration in Tel
Aviv.
"There are many, many films that have Jewish themes,
and I find them definitely appealing because I find
everything of Jewish life appealing. I'm drawn to my
own culture."
Smith, whose favorite comedies include Singin' in the
Rain and Harold and Maude, reveals that one of his clos-
est friends was a popular Jewish comedian, the late Zero
Mostel, cast in nominated films including A Funny
Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and The

Producers.
"I think that ideas are too intellectual if they're just for
the mind and too visceral if they're just for the eyes," Smith
explains about his take on productions whether for the big
or small screen. "Those things are incredibly important, but
an idea must hit emotionally. I think that's a Jewish thing."

As with the first two programs, the confidential list of
the 100 films voted best will be revealed with commen-
tary from some of the biggest names in Hollywood high
jinks, including Milton Berle, Mel Brooks, Tony Curtis,
Charles Grodin, Barry Levinson, Marcel Marceau, Carl
Reiner and Ben Stiller.
All kinds of comedy — slapstick, romantic, satirical,
dark, musical — had a home on the ballot, which also
required that nominated productions had to be feature-
length fiction, American and enduring over many years.
"Movies that make us laugh are often overlooked for
major film awards, but AFI hopes to give funny films
the last laugh," says Jean Picker Firstenberg, AFI director
and CEO. ❑

AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs will air 8-11 p.m.
Tuesday, June 13, on CBS.

NIs k

Child Care

An HBO Signature documentary details heroism
and hope amidst the horrors ofWorld War II.

NAOMI PFEFFERMAN
Special to the Jewish News

L

isa Gossels' father didn't
speak much about
Chabannes, the tiny vil-
lage in rural France that had shel-
tered him and 400 other Jewish
children from the Holocaust.
He had come to America
an orphan, lived in foster
homes, put himself through
Harvard College and Harvard
Law School. He didn't like to
dwell on the past.
"The Children o f Chabannes" tells the story
But when Peter Gossels men-
of 400 Jewish children who fled Nazi
tioned there was going to be a
persecution and took up residence at the
reunion of the Chabannes chil-
Chateau of Chabannes in unoccupied France.
dren and their rescuers in May
1996, Lisa, an aspiring documen-
bled together from her own bank
tary filmmaker, sparked to attention.
account and that of her co-director,
"I didn't sleep that night," says
Dean Wetherell, coaxing interviews
the producer-director of The
from reluctant survivors.
Children of Chabannes, which has
The clock was ticking. The "chil-
earned kudos on the festival circuit
dren of Chabannes" were now in
and airs June 11 on HBO Signature.
their 60s, their teachers in their late
"I knew there was a movie there."
80s, and Gossels had less than a
A mere four weeks later the first-
week to win their trust and piece
time filmmaker was in the remote
together the story.
Creuse region of France with a cam-
The tale she captured in and
era crew and funding she had cob-
around the decaying chateau was
remarkable. The rescue effort was
Naomi Pfeffemian is entertainment
the
brainchild of Felix Chevrier, a
editor of the Jewish Journal of Greater
French
"republican"; a staunch
Los Angeles.

\N„\\`,.,

believer in the rights of man; a jolly,
pot-bellied fellow who had turned
the chateau into a save haven for
refuo-ee children.
The school was not just an
orphanage but a place where the little
ones could lead a normal life, under
the circumstances, with school and
play and boisterous celebration of the
Jewish holidays. At the chateau, one
observer noted, the children laughed
during the day and cried at night.
What was unique about
`67 Chabannes was that the townspeo-
ple were not religious but secular,
8' and, like Chevrier, motivated by the
I ideals of the republic.
Yet with the glut of Holocaust
films after Schindler's List,
Hollywood wasn't initially enthusias-
tic about the movie. To finish her
film, Gossels had to take Chabannes
on the road, raising funds dollar by
dollar via a series of benefit dinners
in private homes.
One reason the movie works, she
says, is because it is straightforward
and unsentimental. Gossels recalls an
interview in which a survivor
attempted to read the last letter he
ever received from his mother: "He
started sobbing, and we started sob-
bing, and we immediately turned off
the camera," she says. "We always
turned off the camera if anybody
started crying. We did not zoom
into their eyes for the teary shots." El

The Children of Chabannes

debuts 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June
11, on HBO Signature. Check
your cable listings for additional
screenings.

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