Special
Guests
said. "In 2004,
we increased
to 19,000, and,
last year, we -
are pleased to report that 24,000
members of our community were
in attendance. We expect this year
to be even better!'
Grand Prize Film
Live and Become is the win-
ner of the fourth annual Sarah
& Harold Gottlieb Award for
Contributions to Jewish Culture
that is presented to the festival's
best film. Live and Become will
be shown at all five festival sites.
The first presentation takes place
at 8 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at
United Artists Commerce.
The film recounts the ironic yet
life-affirming tale of a young boy
from Ethiopia who survives and
thrives in modern Israel by pre-
tending to be Jewish.
"Live and Become is a won-
derful film. It stood out from all
the rest:' said Betty Pernick of
West Bloomfield, the festival's
associate steering committee and
development chair. "Once you saw
it, there was no question it would
be the winner!'
When the film
festival's screen-
ing committee
considers which
movies to present,
members look at
"the quality of the
movie-making and
the importance of
what the movie is
talking about:' said
David Magidson, who has served
as festival director for the last
seven years.
Another vital criterion is "what
does it say about being Jewish in
the world today?"
At least 30 committee members
saw Live and Become, and its
selection for the grand prize was
nearly unanimous, he said.
"We had to be done choos-
ing the award-winning film by
late fall; I think it was the end of
November',' Glass Kanat remem-
bered."The day before the cut-off,
David came over at 10:30 at night
and said to me,`You've got to see
this film.'
"It was a quarter of two in the
morning before I fumed it off.
My husband said, `What are you
doing — you can see the rest of
it tomorrow: but I couldn't tear
myself away.
"You can go to this movie
with people of all ages, from my
32-year-old
daughter to my
husband, who's
73. You can
discuss it with them, and you will
all grow through seeing it!" •
The Gottlieb Award includes
a prize of $7,500 for filmmaker
Mihaileanu.
The April 30 screening includes
a festival introduction by Terry
Lawson, Detroit Free Press
movie reviewer. In addition, Sirak
Sebhat, an Ethiopian Jew who
plays the movie's main character
when he is older, will appear at
this screening.
Before the Birmingham show-
ing, scheduled for Tuesday, May
2, at 8 p.m (not at 5 p.m., as
listed in the festival brochure),
Birmingham day sponsor
Program for Holocaust Survivors
and Families will host an invita-
tional pre-glow.
The Ann Arbor screen-
ing, which takes place 8 p.m.
Thursday, May 4, will be followed
by a discussion, moderated by
Magidson, who is a professor in
the Wayne State University theater
department.
Other screenings
of Live and Become
are scheduled for 8
p.m. Sunday, May 7,
in Flint; and 8 p.m.
Tuesday, May 9, in
Windsor.
No -Laughing
Matter
In addition to the
Live and Become
events, the film festival includes
several other special events,
discussions and featured guests.
Some are aimed specifically at
young people.
The Young Adult Division of the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit is co-sponsoring the
Birmingham Palladium Theatre
presentation of the documentary
Protocols of Zion, scheduled for
8 p.m. Wednesday, May 3. YAD
also - is sponsoring an afterglow at
the Blue Martini, located next to
the Palladium.
The movie, which investigates
the current slanders against the
Jewish people, including and
going beyond the often dis-
proved but still widely circulated
Protocols of the Learned Elders
of Zion, is an important film for
young people to see, said YAD's
Jordan*Glass of West Bloomfield.
Last year, YAD sponsored the
comedy The Hebrew Hammer,
and it was
fairly successful,
said Glass, the
festival's young
adult chair. But
the immense
popularity of 2004's film festival
presentation Paper Clips showed
that "we don't need comedy to
attract young people."
In Paper Clips, non-Jews
gain sensitivity to anti-Semitism
through a school project aimed at
expressing the immensity of the
Holocaust through the collection
of 6 million paper clips.
"Seeing Paper Clips made you
feel proud to be Jewish; Protocols
makes you feel a certain amount
of fear," Glass said. "Anti-Semitism
is still around, and our generation
has a responsibility to be on guard
against it."
Along with free vegetarian
appetizers and reduced-price
drinks, the Blue Martini afterglow
will feature a discussion moder-
ated by Brian Marcus, director of
Internet marketing for the Anti-
Defamation League.
Screenings of Protocols also
will take place 5 p.m. Thursday,
May 4, in Ann Arbor; 5 p.m.
Monday, May 8, in Flint; 8 p.m.
Tuesday, May 9, in Commerce;
and 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 10, in
Windsor.
Something For
Everybody
The film festival continues its
Sunday morning "Jews In Sports"
program with a free brunch
and movie, Sunday, May 7, in
Commerce Township. Sponsored
by the Michigan Jewish Spofts
Hall of Fame, the bagel brunch
begins at 9 a.m., while the movie
Monday Night Mayhem
screens at 10 a.m.
•
This story of the evolution
of television's Monday Night
Football stars John Turturro as a
wholly believable Howard Cosell.
Unfortunately, reservations for the
brunch were required by April 10;
call the film festival office at (248)
432-5577 just in case there is
room to view the movie — with-
out brunch-- at 10 a.m.
The festival offers two Voyages
of Discovery events specifically
designed for the youngest seg-
ments of the Jewish community,
both of them free.
Monday night religious school
classes have been invited to the
Birmingham-screening of the
Israeli movie Walk On Water,
scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday, May
1. The movie cen-.
ters on a Mossad
hit man tracking
down an aged ex-
Nazi officer, and
his relationship
with the man's non-Nazi children.
After viewing the movie, students
will have kosher pizza and pop
while participating in a discus-
sion moderated by Wayne State
Professor Dr. Phoebe Mainster.
Slated for Commerce Township
at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, May 7,
are the multigenerational films
-Becoming Rachel and Nicholas
Winton: The Power of Good.
Sunday school classes from
throughout metro Detroit have
been -invited.
"One of the purposes of this
festival is to keep the community -
informed and educated:' said
associate chair Pernick, "not only
about current issues but also
about historical issues, and we do
this in a variety of ways. That's
what a festival is all about. We
.
cover all topics, so hopefully all
segments of the community will
be covered by our films."
Magidson said that every year -
people ask him which movies they
should see. "Others come up to me
and say, `Why did you pick that .
one? I am sorry I saw it:"
"I like them all well enough to
see them',' he said. "Everybody
may not like everything, but
there's something for everybody.
"This is the mosaic that makes
up the Jews of the world today."
❑
The. Jewish Community
Center's eighth annual Lenore
Marwil Jewish Film Festival
runs April'30-May 11. Festival
passes are $118 JCC members,
$136 nonmembers;_ Ann Arbor
passes are $60. Individual tick-
ets are $9 each.
Tickets can be ordered by
mail (JCC Marwil Film Festival,
6600 West Maple Road, West
Bloomfield 48322); phone
(248-432-5402); fax (248-432:
•5552); Internet (www.jccdet.
org ); or in person at the West
Bloomfield JCC's front desk.
Group rates and other inqui-
ries: (248) 432-5577.
NOTE: After noon Friday,
April 28, tickets will be avail-
able only at the theaters one
hour before show times.
The schedule provided with this
article was correct as of the
Jewish News deadline. For a com-
plete updated listing, see the Film
Festival Web site: www.djff.org.
S
. ,
everal filmmakers
and others asso-
ciated with the
movies to be shown at the
Lenore Marwil Jewish Film
Festival will speak at select-4
ed screenings throughout
the festiva
The following -speri app
antes have been confirmed,
as of Jewish News deadlines:
• Live and Become – Festiv0:-
introduction by Terry
Lawson, Detroit Free
movie reviewer; appear-
ance by actor Sirak Sebha
Commerce, 8 p.m. April
30. Festival Director Davi
Magidson: Ann Arbor, 8 p.m.
May 4.
• The Ritchie Boys – Guy
Stern, WSU professor and
featured participant in the
World War II warfare docu-
mented in The Ritchie Boys,
will appear at every show-
ing: Commerce, 5 p.m. April
30; Ann Arbor, 5 p.m. May
2; Birmingham, 5 p.m. May
4; Flint, 8 p.m. May 8; and
Windsor, 2 p.m. May 10.
King of the Corner – Actor-
filmmaker Peter Riegert: Ann
Arbor, 8 p.m. April 30.
• A Cantor's Tale
– Filmmaker Eric Greenberg
and Cantor Jack Mendelson:
Ann Arbor, 8 p.m. May 1;
Commerce, 8 p.m. May 2.
• Perla – Filmmaker Debbie
Brookman: Commerce, 5 p.m.
May 9.
• One Flight for Us
– Filmmaker Haim Hecht:
Commerce, 5 p.m. May 2.
• Hineni: Coming Out in
a Jewish High School
– Producer ldit Klein:
Commerce, 5 p.m. May 3;
Ann Arbor, 2 p.m. May 4.
— Diana Lieberman
April 27 • 2006
49