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Picture
Perfect

The Jewish Community Center's
15th annual film festival presents
diverse and extraordinary films.

Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News

I

Kaddish for a Friend

Tevye

One Day After Peace

n the trenches of World War I, a place
poet Isaac Rosenberg described as
"loud with death" and where "the dark
air spurts with fire:' a young solider named
Erich Mendelsohn created pieces of beauty
— sketches on scraps of paper — that he
sent to the love of his life.
Her name was Louise, and she was a cel-
list back home in Berlin.
Later, the two would marry, escape from
the Nazis and lead extraordinary lives — a
story told in Mendelsohn's Incessant Visions,
one of more than 30 cinematic works fea-
tured in this year's Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan Detroit's 15th Annual
Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival, to be
held April 7-18 at the Berman Center for the
Performing Arts.
"Every year we strive to improve the festival
and make it more exciting and interesting:'
Film Festival Chair Eric Lumberg said. "We
really want to reach out to the entire commu-
nity. We hope that movie lovers will come and
bring their kids and grandkids to experience
this great cultural program:'
"This is a really unique opportunity for our
community:' added Film Festival Director
Rachel Ruskin. "We don't often have access to
these films, especially on the big screen.
"Israeli films are a passion of mine, and we
strive to bring you the best. I hope people will
take advantage of this festival and come out to
see these compelling documentaries and one-
of-a-kind feature films. Some of my favorites
are A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, AKA Doc Pomus,
Torn, By Summer's End, Life in Stills — I can
go on and on:'
Life in Stills, the story of a family and a
magnificent collection of photographs, will
include a discussion with filmmaker Ben
Peter, the manager of Pri-Or PhotoHouse,
which inspired the film. In 2005, Peter
began working with his grandmother,
96-year-old Miriam Weissenstein, at the
PhotoHouse, home to 1 million negatives
taken by his grandfather, Rudi, that chart
Israel's history. Today, Peter is dedicated to
preserving the images and has written sev-
eral books about the photos.
This year's film festival features a bit of

something for everyone.
Love Israel? God's Neighbors, the story of
a surprising group of neighborhood toughs
and a beautiful young woman, might be
for you. Or check out The Flat, Yossi, By

Summer's End or Lipstikka.
Many of this year's movies focus on social
issues, including Take Us Home, One Day
After Peace, The Other Son, Invisible and A
Bottle in the Gaza Sea.
Those seeking to learn more about the
Holocaust may be interested in Kinderblock
66: Return to Buchenwald, A People
Uncounted, Numbered, Belarus: A Trip, The
Boys of Terezin or Besa: The Promise, a sur-
prising documentary that features Norman
Gershman, a Jewish-American photographer,
and Rexhep Hoxha, a Muslim-Albanian.
Or maybe you just want pure entertain-
ment. Then give one of these films a try:
The Day I Saw Your Heart, The Ballad of
the Weeping Spring, Tevye, Sonny Boy, Hava
Nagila (The Movie), My Best Enemy, Kaddish
for a Friend, Hello I Must Be Going or the
riveting, you-can't-look-away-for-a-second
film, Blank Bullet.
Learn the stories of the lives of some of the
Jewish community's most fascinating figures
not only in Mendelsohn's Incessant Visions
and AKA Doc Pomus, but also The Price of
Kings: Shimon Peres, Follow Me: The Yoni
Netanyahu Story or Torn, the true story of
Father Romuald Waznikel who learned, late
in life, that he had been born Jewish.

❑

For interviews with the filmmakers of AKA Doc

Film Fest Schedule

T

he 15th Annual Lenore Marwil
Jewish Film Festival takes place
April 7-18 at the Berman Center
for the Performing Arts, 6600 W.
Maple Road, in West Bloomfield (WB);
April 13-21 at Celebration Cinema,
6600 Ring Road, in Portage near
Kalamazoo (KZ); May 5-9 at the
Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty
St., in Ann Arbor (AA); and May 5-9
at the Flint Institute of Arts, 1120 E.
Kearsley St., in Flint (Flint).
All times indicated in this schedule
are for the Berman Center in West
Bloomfield (for tickets, call 248-661-
1900 or visit www.jccdet.org ), fol-
lowed by dates for other locations.
Tickets for Ann Arbor: (734)
971-0990; tickets for Portage near
Kalamazoo: www.jewishfilmskazoo.
org ; tickets for Flint: (810) 767-5922.

SUNDAY, APRIL 7
Noon: Hava Nagila (The Movie)

The story behind the popular and
much-loved song, recorded by every-
one from Elvis to Bob Dylan. (KZ:
4/14 at 2:15 p.m.; AA: 5/5 at 8 p.m.;
Flint: 5/5 at 7 p.m.)

2 p.m.: Tevye
Maurice Schwartz plays "Tevye" in
this restored vintage film.

Pomus and Hava Nagila, see page 62.

Elizabeth Applebaum is marketing director at

5 p.m.: Kinderblock 66: Return to

the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan

Buchenwald

Detroit.

For a complete schedule of films and
pricing information, (individual tick-
ets are $11 each; season passes also
are available), go to www.jccdet.org .
To purchase tickets, call the Berman
Center for the Performing Arts box
office at (248) 661-1900 or visit
theberman.org . Tickets also can
be purchased in person at the box
office.

Sixty-five years after being impris-
oned in Buchenwald, four men com-
memorate the anniversary of their
liberation.
Following the film, Ken Waltzer of Michigan
State University will lead a discussion.

8 p.m.: A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
The story of an unlikely friend-
ship between an Israeli girl and a
Palestinian boy, which begins with a
simple letter. (AA: 5/6 at 5 p.m.; Flint:
5/8 at 7 p.m.)

Film Fest on page 60

March 28 • 2013

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