Melting Away (Namess Bageshem) Salsa Tel Aviv Ell Crime After Crime Theatres: WB 4/23 Theatres: WB 4/22 Theatres: WB 4/22 Israel, 2011, 100 minutes, Spanish, Hebrew with English subtitles Israel, 2010, 90 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles USA, 2011, 95 minutes, English Co-sponsored by the Jewish Gay Network of Michigan (JGN), Linda & Henry Lee, Lenore & Sheldon Leemon Sponsored by Jewish Federation of Flint Co-sponsored by Sallyjo & H. Barry Levine* Co-sponsored by Jewish Parents Institute (JPI), JCC's Stephen Gottlieb Music Festival, Mambo Marci, Barbara & Irving Nusbaum When Vicky and Yoni meet on a plane from Mexico to Tel Aviv, Vicky is dressed as a nun trying to find her estranged salsa-dancing husband. Yoni, a university professor, considers the situation a bit strange. Still, he helps Vicky get through customs, and the two seem to part ways. But not quite. Somehow, Vicky and Yoni keep running into each other. What could that mean? Salsa Tel Aviv is a charming, funny film with a fresh take on the real issue of foreign workers in Israel. Please join us for salsa dancing in the JCC lobby before and after the film Assaf's father discovers he is secretly dressing as a woman. With his wife's silent consent, the father forces Assaf never to return, and the family is torn apart. Years later, Assaf's father is dying, and his mother hires a private investigator to bring her son home. But there is no more Assaf; instead, the couple's son has become "Anna," and she makes a living singing at a gay nightclub. Israel's first film dealing with a transgendered child, Melting Away is also a story of family, healing and forgiveness. 4 Buried Prayers Oliver Wilson was a monster. He repeatedly beat Debbie Peagler and forced her into prostitution, then molested her daughters. When two members of the Crips gang killed Wilson, Peagler was among those arrested and charged with his murder. In 2002, lawyers — including Joshua Safran — began working, at no cost, on the Peagler case. Their key: a little-known California law that allows imprisoned battered women the chance for a new hearing if the original court never heard evidence relating to abuse. Crime After Crime is a true story that provides view- ers with a compelling, intimate look at the Peagler case: the victim, the crime, the attorneys. No one will leave the theatre unchanged. Theatres: WB 4/22, AA 5/2 6 El Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in The Rescuers Theatres: WB 4/23 the Darkness Theatres: WB 4/22, Flint 5/2, AA 5/3 USA, Poland, 2010, 81 minutes, English, Polish with English subtitles Sponsored by the Holocaust Memorial Center Co-sponsored by Lori & Steven Weisberg USA, 2011, 93 minutes, English Co-sponsored by Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring, Sholem Aleichem Institute, Linda & Stephen Hayman As a stock broker, Solomon Rabinovich was a com- plete failure. His day job was writing at small Yiddish papers. Critics lambasted his plays. Who could have imagined, then, that Solomon would become one of the most-loved and successful authors of all time? "Laughing in the Darkness" is the story of Sholem Aleichem, "an invigorating and fascinating bio- graphical documentary that should be required viewing for anyone with a love for the written word," raves Film Threat. It comes to life thanks to the voices of actors Jason Kravits (The Adjustment Bureau) and Rachel Dratch (Saturday Night Live) and tells the unforgettable story of the man who created "Tevye." 248.661.1900 In the spring of 1943, a group of Jews at Majdanek made a collective agreement to bury the few remaining treasures they carried: coins, jewelry, family treasures. Decades later, a handful of survivors who had witnessed this painful scene return to Majdanek where the secrets hidden in the earth are finally revealed. Buried Prayers is a documentary of layered stories: of men and women so many years ago who, in a final act of defiance, refused to let the Nazis steal yet again; of survivors who return to a death camp; and of timeless lessons about strength, courage and anguish. 2010 Winner Best Documentary Cinequest Film Festival Please join us immediately after the film for a discussion with invited speaker, writer and producer, Matt Mazer. 4 r USA, 2011, 94 minutes, English Sponsored by the AJC - Detroit Co-sponsored by the Mardigian Library at the University of Michigan, Dearborn This documentary follows the journey of two unlike- ly but determined figures: Stephanie Nyombayire, a young Rwandan anti-genocide activist and Sir Martin Gilbert, a leading Holocaust historian. Together, they cross the globe conducting inter- views with descendents of survivors and the diplomats who saved the survivors in World War II. Through the viewpoint of the Holocaust or the genocide in Darfur, both Nyombayire and Gilbert learn firsthand of how one, extraordinary act of goodness can overcome evil even in the most horrendous situation. www.jccdet.org