WHAT’S
PLAYING

CLOCKWISE: Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me; Humor Me; Doing Jewish: A
Story from Ghana; When the Smoke Clears; The Cakemaker; Remember Baghdad.
OPPOSITE PAGE, BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT: Indecent; Heading Home: The Tale of
Team Israel; No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie.

duced by Nicole Eisenberg,
a local supporter of the arts
and co-producer of Indecent
on Broadway — will be watch-
ing along with the audience
as Indecent fills the screen
and calls attention to the
arrest of a cast on obscenity
charges based on a storyline
that includes a brothel and a
lesbian relationship (the play
featured the first lesbian kiss
on Broadway). She wants to
take note of the responses to
the film version after seeing it
staged across the country.
“Both the play and tele-
vision production have
strengths, but the television
production makes viewers feel
we are on stage as scene part-
ners,” says Vogel, who will be
making her first appearance
in Michigan. “It’s really an
exciting time for me as a writ-
er. In the next season, there
are more than 15 productions
of Indecent on stage.”
One recent production
Vogel saw gave her a sense
of the West Bloomfield JCC
where the film festival is
based April 15-26. Impressed
with the creativity of direc-
tor Wendy C. Goldberg

at the Guthrie Theater in
Minneapolis, the playwright
learned Goldberg had been
active with the JCC as a
Michigan resident.
“The script remains the
same, but one of the exciting
things of theater, that unfor-
tunately film can’t do, is that
it changes with every produc-
tion and every theater,” Vogel
explains.
With Indecent, Vogel aims
to make Jewish audiences
rethink their historical legacy
and the different tools and
costs of anti-Semitism.
“I hope we embrace —
and many of us have never
stopped embracing — the
fact that the United States
of America is the immigrant
country,” says Vogel, who has
taught at Brown and Yale
universities and now guest
teaches.
“I very much find that I
embrace a Jewish aesthetic —
in order to cry and grieve, we
have to laugh, and in order to
laugh we have to express our
grief. I think people are often
surprised that there are very
funny moments in Indecent. I
don’t keep to one tonality.”

continued on page 50

SUNDAY, APRIL 15
1 p.m. Sammy
SATURDAY,
Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta
APRIL 21
Be Me The entertainer
9:30 p.m. Blazing
Below is the schedule for the Lenore Marwil Detroit Saddles Directed by
is profiled, featuring
interviews with Billy
Mel Brooks and star-
Jewish Film Festival.
Crystal, Norman Lear,
ring Gene Wilder, this
Jerry Lewis and Kim
1974 Western satire
Novak.
is screened for Retro Saturday Night.
4 p.m. Wendy’s Shabbat Jewish seniors hold their
Shabbat dinner at Wendy’s fast-food restaurant.
SUNDAY, APRIL 22
Humor Me A struggling playwright (Jemaine Clement
1 p.m. No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie
of comedy duo and band Flight of the Conchords)
4 p.m. A Woman’s Story Three generational per-
moves in with his father (Elliott Gould).
spectives of genocide are revealed.
7 p.m. Indecent / On Broadway
7 p.m. The Wedding Plan A bride-to-be trusts in fate
when she is forsaken.
MONDAY, APRIL 16
2 p.m. Mr. Predictable A passionate romance
MONDAY, APRIL 23
becomes transformational. In Hebrew with subtitles.
5 p.m. Muhi — Generally Temporary The Israeli-
5 p.m. Remember Baghdad Home movies and
Palestinian conflict is explored through a young boy
archive news footage help tell the stories of the Jews
from Gaza trapped in an Israeli hospital.
who’ve lived in Iraq for 2,600 years.
8 p.m. Scaffolding Winner of Best Israeli Feature at
8 p.m. The Cakemaker A young German baker trav- the Jerusalem Film Festival; a son and father differ in
els to Israel seeking answers regarding the death of his plans for the son.
married Israeli lover.
8 p.m. Doing Jewish: A Story From Ghana A remote TUESDAY, APRIL 24
community discovers they have been practicing
2 p.m. Look About You A family travels in a tiny RV
Judaism for centuries.
through — and shows what real life is like in — Israel.
5 p.m. An Israeli Love Story Set during pre-state
TUESDAY, APRIL 17
Israeli, the film is based on the true love affair between
2 p.m. The Testament A Holocaust researcher ques- the son of the second president of the State of Israel
tions his mother’s identity.
and his fiancée.
5 p.m. Elay A brave soldier goes into battle.
8 p.m. Shelter This thriller forces two into hiding in
Yom Hazikaron Ceremony The community ceremony Germany.
is shown.
8 p.m. Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
8 p.m. When the Smoke Clears: A Story of
Brotherhood, Resilience and Hope Young Israeli soldiers WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25
cope with mental and physical injuries.
2 p.m. Between Worlds Israeli and Arab mothers
bond after a terror attack.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18
5 p.m. The Invisibles Four Holocaust survivors tell of
5 p.m. Four by Four A lie leads to travel and endan- hiding in Germany.
germent.
8 p.m. An Act of Defiance Lawyer Bram Fischer
8 p.m. Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (photo
steps up as lead counsel for Nelson Mandela and oth-
above) The “world’s most beautiful woman” was also
ers resisting apartheid in 1963 South Africa.
an ingenious inventor.
THURSDAY, APRIL 26
THURSDAY, APRIL 19
2 p.m. Mr. Gaga A choreographer — Ohad Naharin,
2 p.m. Bye Bye Germany A charmer and his friends
choreographer for the Batsheva Dance Company —
have escaped Nazi Germany and plot to get to America. redefines modern dance.
5 p.m. Doing Jewish: A Story From Ghana
5 p.m. At Eye Level A boy searches for his father
8 p.m. Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel
with unexpected results. The film is followed by a talk-
back with actor and comedian Danny Woodburn, who
FRIDAY, APRIL 20
raises awareness for inclusion.
2 p.m. Across the Waters A family tries to escape
8 p.m. 1945 Hungarian townspeople react to return-
Nazis in Denmark.
ing Orthodox men. Followed by a talk-back with Dr.
Howard Lupovitch. •

jn

April 12 • 2018

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