arts & life

Farewell Party (above) and Bethlehem (below) will be screened at the MSU Israeli Film Festival.

March Movie Madness

Mark your

calendars for a trio

of upcoming local

film festivals with a

Jewish presence.

The free MSU Israeli
Film Festival runs March
22-23 in Wells Hall B-122
on the Michigan State
University campus in East
Lansing (517-432-3493;
jsp.msu.edu). The Freep
Film Festival runs March
19-22 at the Fillmore
Detroit and Detroit Film
Theatre at the Detroit
Institute of Arts (313-222-
6400; freepfilmfestival.
com). The Ann Arbor
Film Festival runs March
24-29 at the Michigan
Theater, Ann Arbor (734-
995-5356; aafilmfest.
orgy. Supplemental
programming enhances all
three festivals.

Suzanne Chessler
I Contributing Writer

M

arch is the month for

movie-lovers.
While the MSU
Israeli Film Festival (IFF)
marks its 10th anniversary with
the screening of four films this
month, two other local film
festivals also maintain a Jewish
presence.
The Freep Film Festival
features Fire Photo -> 1, pro-
filing Bill Eisner — who has
been following the Detroit Fire
Department for more than 50
years — through the photo-
graphs he has taken during
massive blazes and his relation-
ships with the people who fight
them.
Also appearing at the festival
is Internal Combustion: When
award-winning Paris-based
director Steve Faigenbaum
returns to his native Detroit
after a 25-year absence, he is
inspired to document the col-
lapse and potential rise of the
city. He often compares it to his
own family's history: the Jewish
immigrant experience, the riots
of 1943 and 1967 and fears
surrounding the Vietnam War.
The film, whose director of
photography was Stephen Katz

(Gods and Monsters, The Blues
Brothers), makes its U.S. debut
March 21 at the Detroit Film
Theatre at the Detroit Institute
of Arts.
The 53rd annual Ann Arbor
Film Festival showcases Oren
Goldenberg's Time I Change,
part of an annual event con-
tinuing over a half-century to
delve into experimental cinema.
At Michigan State University
in East Lansing, Marc Bernstein
has coordinated free screenings
running March 22-23 and has
arranged a free dinner on the
first evening.
"We tried to pick films that
portray aspects of Israeli soci-
ety that are less well-known
to American society," says
Bernstein, director of the
Hebrew program at the univer-
sity and longtime IFF commit-
tee member.
"We've always tried to present
a diversity of Israeli experienc-
es, and this year, we don't have
any films that look at religious
issues. We want viewers to look
at Israeli society without the
politics:'
Sami Shalom Chetrit will
introduce and answer ques-
tions about his film, Shattered
Rhymes. It documents the life
of Israeli poet Erez Bitton, who
lost his eyesight at 11, when he

became the victim of a hand
grenade.
"This film explores the
Moroccan-Jewish community,"
Bernstein explains. "In 1948,
the poet's family was forced to
emigrate from Morocco:'
Another documentary, The
Garden of Eden, tells about
Sakhne Springs, a popular
national park in Israel. It fol-
lows the seasonal transitions
and the people who seek
respite.
Bethlehem tells the fictional
story of an Israeli secret-service
officer and his Palestinian
informant, the younger brother
of a Palestinian militant.
In Farewell Party, another
work of fiction, retirement-
home companions try to offer

relief to a terminally ill friend
by constructing a machine for
self-euthanasia. The movie
confronts the issues of assisted
suicide and the right to die with
dignity.
"We pick our films by look-
ing at the ones nominated for
international prizes and sur-
veying what is shown at other
Jewish film festivals," Bernstein
says. "This past summer, I led
a study trip to Israel for MSU
students and had the opportu-
nity to visit the Jerusalem Film
Festival; we chose a couple of
those films:' All of the films are
in Hebrew with English sub-
titles.
Detroit and the challenges it

MOVIE on page 44

March 19 • 2015

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