“A Taste Of ReelAbilities”

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Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit’s Opening The Doors
and DeRoy Testamentary Foundation are proud to partner
with The Lenore Marwil Detroit Jewish Film Festival

NO ORDINARY HERO:
THE SUPERDEAFY MOVIE

SUNDAY

Featuring Academy Award Winner
Marlee Matlin and John Maucere
Director: Troy Kotsur

22

APRIL

1:00 PM

USA-2017-79 min.- English, American Sign Language(ASL)

Sunday, April 22 at 1:00pm

The Berman Center for the Performing Arts

SuperDeafy, portrayed by deaf actor, John Maucere, must reveal the
man behind the cape to ﬁnd true love and inspire a young deaf boy,
who is being bullied, to believe in himself. A beloved character and role
model, SuperDeafy has a worldwide following with t-shirts, posters,
dolls and now a movie. The ﬁlm marks the ﬁrst time in cinematic
history that a SAG feature ﬁlm is directed by a deaf director and
executive produced exclusively by deaf executive producers.

Speaker: John Maucere

John Maucere, deaf actor, comedian and ASL advocate, portrays a super Hero in the ﬁlm “No Ordinary
Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie”. He has appeared as Adam in ABC’s Switched At Birth, in NBC’s Law and
Order and is the creator and host of Live in Hollywood. He founded Deafywood, an ensemble for deaf
entertainers and has performed the National Anthem and America the Beautiful with Alicia Keys and
Jennifer Hudson as a spokesperson for the National Association of the Deaf. John was recognized by Los
Angeles for exemplary service to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community.

Cost: $13

AT EYE LEVEL

Directed by Joachim Dollhopf and
Evi Goldbrunner

Germany-2017-98 min.-English Subtitles

Thursday, April 26 at 5:00 p.m.

THURSDAY

APRIL

26

5:00 PM

The Berman Center for the Performing Arts

Michi 11, has lived in a group home since his mother’s death,
where he has made friends, but is also bullied. He is
determined to locate his father, “Tom” after discovering a
long lost letter from his mother. Michi’s excitement turns to
surprise when he sees that Tom has dwarﬁsm and is the
same height. However, together they discover they have
more in common than they think and their lives change in
unexpected ways. This ﬁlm is a testament to the remarkable
relationships that are possible when perspectives are
broadened and individuals embrace each other’s differences.

Speaker: Danny Woodburn

Danny Woodburn, is an actor and comedian, best known as Mickey Abbott, Kramer’s friend, on NBC’s
Seinfeld. Danny has appeared in 30 ﬁlms and 140 TV shows.

He is the recipient of the 2010 Screen Actors Guild Harold Russell Award and 2016 Norman
Lear Lifetime Achievement Award. Danny raises awareness of the need for inclusion and
understanding of people with disabilities.

Cost: $13

Discussion and Dessert Reception with actor following each ﬁlm.
For information on ReelAbilities contact Ellen Maiseloff at 248-432-5530 or sbaruch@jccdet.org
For tickets: jccdet.org/ﬁlmfestival

“A Taste of ReelAbilities” is part of The ReelAbilties Disabilities Film Festival featuring award-winning ﬁlms dedicated
to promoting awareness, appreciation and celebration of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with
different disabilities. Each ﬁlm will have post screening discussions led by actors.

22

March 15 • 2018

jn

Hillel Day
School
Students
Get Results

The Matrix Theatre Company in
Detroit has removed My Name
is Rachel Corrie from its current
season following a letter-writing
campaign by Hillel Day School
eighth graders.
Several
students had
researched the
theater as an
organzation to
support during
Campaign for
A Cause and
Meira Goldman
were dismayed
to learn that the
play about an
activist killed by an IDF bulldozer
was on the roster. Although an
investigation found that Corrie’s
death was an accident, the play
purports that she was brutally
crushed to death.
“It gave a negative view of the
IDF,” student Meira Goldman
said.
She and other students wrote
letters to the theater express-
ing that the play was not a good
choice for a company whose mis-
sion is to foster social justice.
This week, the students
received a letter from Megan
Buckley-Ball, Matrix artistic
director, stating the play will not
be performed.
“It could never be my intention
to present a play that might make
a large portion of our community
feel alienated,” she wrote.
The company will present
Kayak, which explores similar
themes of the personal costs of
activism, in its place, she said.
“It’s amazing that she switched
it,” Goldman said. “We’re only
in middle school! But it made
me see that we can still effect
change.” •

