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Argentine director unearths poignant tale
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Argentina," he says. 'Argentina has one
of the biggest Jewish communities [in
the world]. And then we have the
he 8-year-old hero of the charm- biggest concentration of Nazis also, after
ing Argentine film Valentin has a the Second World War.
"[Argentineans] can say they are not
burning question that he wants
anti-Semitic,
but they see the Jewish
answered: "Where's Momma?"
people as different, and they don't have
By the end of the movie, the title
the complete confidence [in the] Jewish
character will add another: "Is it good to
people that they have in [other
be Jewish?" It doesn't exactly replace the
Argentineans]."
first, but it reflects his awakening about
In the film, Valentin has lived with his
more sophisticated notions of identity.
paternal grandmother (played by the
The film takes a sweet, almost senti-
Spanish actress Carmen Maura) since his
mental, approach to a precocious child's
Catholic father and Jewish mother split
fervent desire for a "normal" family life.
up years earlier. Dad drops by to visit
Nonetheless, it was vital to writer-direc-
semi-regularly,
but Mom is out of the
tor Alejandro Agresti, a veteran
picture
—except
as the butt of
Argentine filmmaker who has lived in
Grandma's anti-Jewish jibes.
Amsterdam for years, that his gentle
"The character of the grandmother is
autobiographical tale allude to anti-
— well, it was my grandmother," the
Jewish prejudice.
gregarious Agresti says, describing her as
Valentin, which opens today in
a nice lady who was ignorant rather than
Detroit, was Argentina's official submis-
anti-Semitic. "If the mother was black or
sion to the Foreign Language Film cate-
Japanese or Muslim, it would be the
gory of this year's Academy Awards.
same situation."
The Jewish references aren't essential
Agresti was 4 years old when he was
to the plot, Agresti acknowledges,.and
separated
from his mother in the mid-
he had difficulty integrating them into
1960s,
and
he did not see her again
the story. -
"But it was very important to mention until he was 29. At some point, he
learned that his father had abused and
because I think that it's something that
threatened her during their marriage.
nobody wants to talk about in
MICHAEL FOX
Special to the Jewish News
T
Theater Kudos
Tony Awards shine spotlight on Jewish nominees
and a special award for lifetime achievement.
ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER
Special to the Jewish News
B
roadway producer and Oak
Park native Jeffrey Seller has
done it again. He's nabbed yet
another Tony Award nomination, this
time as co-producer of Avenue Q,
which is up for six awards, including
Best Musical. The Tonys will be pre-
sented Sunday, June 6, in New York
City.
Avenue Q, a musical about life in the
Big Apple performed by actors with
Muppet-like puppets, moved from Off-
Broadway to the Broadway stage. "Some
people thought it wouldn't work on
Broadway, but it's 11 months old and
we have recouped the investment and
are making [a] profit every week," says
Seller, who also produces the long-run-
ning hit Rent (for which he won a 1996
Tony). "We start our national tour in
2005, and we will be bringing the show
to Detroit."
Other Tony contenders for Best
Musical include Wicket the prequel to
the Wizard of Oz, • leading with 10 nom-
inations; Caroline, Or Change, with six
nominations; and The Boy From Oz —
which stars Tony broadcast host Hugh
Jackman as the late Aussie entertainer
Peter Allen — with five.
High-profile nominated Jewish talents
include Wicked Idina Menzel for Best
Performance by an Actress in a Musical
and composer Stephen Schwartz for
Best Original Score; playwright Tony
Kushner for Best Book of a Musical for
Caroline, Or Change, and director