arts&life
FILM FEST
SCHEDULE
film
The JCC’s 19th-annual
Lenore Marwil Detroit
Jewish Film Festival takes
place May 7-18 at the
Berman Center for the
Performing Arts at the West
Bloomfield JCC (unless
otherwise noted). For infor-
mation and to purchase
tickets, call (248) 661-1900
or visit jccdet.org/filmfest.
SUNDAY, MAY 7
2 p.m. Fanny’s Journey A
13-year-old girl leads a group
of Jewish children through
Nazi-controlled France.
5 p.m. Double Feature:
Joe’s Violin followed by A
Heartbeat Away.
Joe’s Violin A Holocaust
survivor and a schoolgirl in
the Bronx are united by their
love of music and a violin.
A Heartbeat Away An
Israeli medical team exam-
ines hundreds of children and
must determine who to treat
and who will be left to die.
8 p.m. Guest speaker
Leonard Maltin will discuss
Jewish humor in films, fol-
lowed by The Last Laugh (see
“The Great Divide,” page 54).
On the Map
Miracle On
Hardwood
MONDAY, MAY 8
2 p.m. Natasha The teen
son of Russian immigrants
becomes involved with his
cousin-by-marriage in this
coming-of-age story. Strong
sexual content.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
The JCC’s annual
Detroit Jewish Film
Festival features
thrillers, comedies,
an appearance by
Leonard Maltin,
hummus — and
the story of an
unforgettable
basketball game.
I
t would be, in the words of
the Israeli daily Maariv, “the
fight between David and
Goliath.”
Take your seat.
It’s Thursday, Feb. 17, 1977,
the European Basketball
Championship.
On one side of the court:
CSKA Moscow. The Soviet
Union, under the leadership of
Leonid Brezhnev, is one of the
world’s great powers, home to
Dani Menkin
290 million men, women and
children. Time and again, its
CSKA Moscow has refused to compete against the
team it is about to play.
On the other side of the court: Maccabi Tel Aviv,
comprising Israeli nationals, American Jews and
two African Americans. The country has 4 million
citizens, virtually all of whom are at home watch-
ing the game on Israel’s single TV channel.
Israel is a nation just recovering from the Yom
Kippur War, “a country trying to
find its identity, a country divided
politically,” filmmaker Dani
Menkin says. “This team united
us.”
On The Map is Menkin’s new
documentary about the 1977
European Cup which, to the
astonishment of everyone,
was won by Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The film will be shown 8 p.m.
Wednesday, May 10, for Patron
Night at the Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan Detroit’s
Lenore Marwil Detroit Jewish
Film Festival and will be followed by a talk-back
with Dani Menkin. (Patrons are invited to a pri-
vate strolling dinner reception at 6:30 p.m.)
“This is such an exciting, feel-good movie,” says
Beth Robinson, director of the Lenore Marwil
Detroit Jewish Film Festival, which runs May 7-18.
“Plus, it’s going to be a great evening with Dani
Menkin. Israel, sports, a fascinating discussion.
TUESDAY, MAY 9
2 p.m. Germans and Jews
A documentary examining
Germany’s surprising popular-
ity with Israelis and develop-
ing relations with the Jewish
community.
5 p.m. Atlit Three French
sisters return to Israel to sell
their parents’ home only to
discover ghosts and a country
in turmoil after the assassina-
tion of Yitzhak Rabin.
8 p.m. The Wedding Doll
Hagit, a young Israeli woman
with special needs, searches
for love and independence
while her mother deals with
her fears that Hagit will be
wounded emotionally.
continued on page 52
continued on page 52
jn
April 27 • 2017
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