DETPOI T
J EY&CH NEW S
iN
teens collaborate with filmmaker to
tell stories important to our history.
by Molly Rott
C
onu b recr
0 ation Beth Shalom's
high school students em-
barked on a new journey
last October. Their mission was to
understand what Jewish military
veterans went through in times of
hardship and war, while still hold-
ing on to their Jewish culture.
Once the idea of making a video
was proposed, students started plan-
ning a project that would capture the
veterans' experiences in a creative and
lasting way.
The students were part of Flip
Clips, a Jewish teen film project co-
sponsored by Federation's Alliance for
Jewish Education and Detroit Public
Television. Community philanthro-
pists helped fund the project, with ma-
jor funding coming from the DeRoy
Testamentary Foundation and the Ste-
phen H. Schulman Millennium Fund.
"The intent of the project was to
connect Jewish teens with their Detroit
Jewish heritage, focusing on family
and community, and ultimately en-
couraging them to plant their roots in
the Detroit area," said Dale Rubin of
the Alliance.
Flip Clips began last summer, with
teens meeting with filmmaker/produc-
er Allyson Rockwell of Sue Marx Films
at the Teen Center at the Jewish Com-
munity Center in West Bloomfield,
and continued into the fall. Overall,
26 teens participated, including 11 at
Beth Shalom in Oak Park.
Rockwell taught students interview
skills, editing, story boarding and the
basics of filmmaking, and also brought
in speakers to help them develop their
projects. Subjects include Topor's
Pickles & Food Service in Detroit, be-
ing a Grosse Pointe Jew and a Holo-
caust survivor.
Beth Shalom's Project
Beth Shalom students interviewed 11
veterans. Their stories ranged from
service during World War II to the En-
tebbe Operation in 1976, when the Is-
raeli Defense Forces rescued hostages
on an airplane highjacked by Palestin-
ian terrorists to Uganda.
"It was an eye-opening and educa-
tional experience" says Rachael Efros,
15, of Troy. "We got to see what it
looked like for Jewish men in the mili-
tary and how their lives were changed,
and the challenges of being Jewish in
the military."
The interviews were completed
over several Monday night class ses-
sions when students paired with vet-
erans to hear about their experiences.
The veterans brought photographs to
enhance their explanations.
Rockwell helped students transform
their interviews into documentaries
running about 3-4 minutes.
Veteran Benno Levi discusses his wartime memories with student Miriam Chesterman.
A compilation of the videos were
made and shown to the veterans, who
were very pleased with their stories.
The short films will be placed on
Detroit Public TV's website for on-
demand viewing, and a contest will be
held to select the three best. As part
of the station's Jewish Programming
Initiative, the winning shorts will be
aired at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 15, on
Channel 56.
All the shorts will be premiered on
the big screen at the 2011 Lenore Mar-
wil Jewish Film Festival at 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 22, at the Berman Cen-
ter for the Performing Arts at the JCC
in West Bloomfield.
"Videotaping Dave Dombey, my
veteran, was exciting," said Ari Cher-
sterman, 14, of Huntington Woods. "It
was exciting to know that his story and
my voice, my video, my hard work will
be shown to many people to let them
know about the trials and tribulations
he went through. It was a meaningful
experience, and I'm excited to see my
film shown at the festival."
"It was a very educational and in-
teresting experience," said Zachary
Schildcrout, 14, of Huntington Woods.
"Allyson and the veterans were fun to
work with. Being behind the camera
was comfortable and fun. It is very ex-
citing the videos will be shown to ev-
eryone and the veterans' stories will be
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