|
JAN
16
THU 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
US 2002
DIRECTORS: DANA JANKLOWICZ-MANN, AMIR MANN By the late 1930's, as the inevitability
of war and Holocaust drew closer, only the most fortunate Jewish families
were able to escape Germany. But even with money for travel, there were
few places open. One place was Shanghai 8,000 miles away. Tremendously wealthy,
miserably squalid, requiring neither visas nor paperwork and already home
to two separate Jewish neighborhoods, it became the new home for 20,000
Jews who made the voyage not knowing what to expect. The newcomers were
placed in the Hongkew district, already home to desperately poor Chinese
and Japanese. Overcrowded beyond imagination, with abysmal sanitary conditions,
adaptation was difficult beyond imagination. It was only after the war that
the residents of Shanghai discovered the relative paradise they inhabited.
As survivors tell their stories, and rare archival photos reveal their lives,
an engrossing chapter of 20th- century Jewish history comes to life. "Like
all great films about a life you never knew existed, it offers much to absorb
and even more to think about after the final frame." -Andrew Sarris,
THE NEW YORK OBSERVER. (90 mins.)
Post film discussion with Miriam Widman, Ursula Bacon, author of "Shanghai
Diary", and Rita Herson.
Join us at 6 p.m.for a patron reception in the Portland
Art Museum North Wing celebrating the Opening Night of the 10th Portland
Jewish Film Festival. Reception and Film tickets $25. For advance tickets
call the NWFC, (503) 221-1156.
JAN 18
SAT 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
ISRAEL 2001
DIRECTOR: BENNY TORATI DESPERADO SQUARE takes place in the atmosphere
of a Mediterranean community of Greek Jews living in a dusty village somewhere
outside of Tel Aviv, totally removed from big-city culture. Reminiscent
of CINEMA PARADISO and spiced with a heavy Sephardic flavor, this charming
film is a story about unfulfilled love and a neighborhood's affection
for an old theater. On the morning of his father's memorial service, Nisim
has a strange dream that his father Morris orders him to reopen the old
family-run cinema that closed 25 years ago. Signora Mandabon, Nisim's
mother, objects especially when she learns which movie her sons plan to
screen. Another problem is that the only print of the film is in the hands
of Uncle Avram, Morris' long-absent brother, who refuses to let it go.
But the order in the dream is stronger than any objections, and Nisim,
his brother, and some friends go ahead with plans to reopen the theatre.
Israeli Academy Awards for Best Director, Music and Art Direction. (97
mins.)
PRECEDED BY
US 2001
DIRECTOR: STEPHEN SADIS Working as fishmongers and produce peddlers, a
group of immigrants made Seattles public market their home, creating a
foundation for one of the largest Sephardic communities in the country.
Historic photos and interviews with relatives help bring to life many
recognizable members of the Seattle Jewish community. (25 mins.)
JAN 19
SUN 4 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
US 2002
DIRECTOR: YALE STROM In 1928, twenty years before the birth of the modern state of Israel, Stalin decided to establish the Jewish Autonomous Region (J.A.R) of Birobidzhan in Soviet Siberia. His motives to ease anti-semitism in Western Russia and strengthen Soviet presence in the Far were hardly pro-Jewish, but he nonetheless managed to attract Jews from all over, including Argentina, Canada, France, England and the U.S., who flocked to this promised socialist "utopia." By 1948, 45,000 people had moved there. Stalin eventually launched purges against the Jewish intelligentsia and, in particular, the J.A.R 's foreign-born Jews, whom he branded capitalist spies, but the Jewish Autonomous Region survives to this day. Accompanied by an affable but obliviously anti-Semitic guide, director Yale Strom ( CARPATI: 50 MILES, THE LAST KLEZMER) sets out on the Trans-Siberian Railroad to find out if it is still a Jewish state, what motivated to move there and what happened to the people who remained. His search yields a strange and fascinating chapter on the Jewish diaspora and the survival of Yiddish language and culture in the most unlikely of places. (90 mins.) Cosponsored by the Beaverton-Birobidzhan Sister City Program.
JAN 19 SUN 2 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
FILMS FOR FAMILIES
GIMPEL THE FOOL
US 1998
DIRECTOR EZRA SCHWARTZ An animated evocation of Eastern European mysticism and eccentric Jewish logic. Based on the story by Isaac Bashevis Singer. (18 mins.)
MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD
ISRAEL 2001
DIRECTORS: ALEXANDER, LUBA CHERNEY A passenger listens to three merchants boast of their wealth, but assures them then he has something more valuable.
(6 mins.)
ZLATEH THE GOAT
CZECHOSLOVAKIA 1973
DIRECTOR: GENE DEITCH A goat being led to slaughter by his young owner saves the boy's life in a snowstorm, and ends up saving himself as well. (20 mins.)
TODAY YOU ARE A FOUNTAIN PEN
USA 2001
DIRECTOR: dan katzir A boy awaiting his Bar Mitzvah during the fall of the Berlin Wall learns a valuable lesson from his grandfather. (20 mins.)
SEA HORSES
ISRAEL 1998
DIRECTOR: NIR BERGMAN A daredevil boy strikes a bargain with the world to get his parents back together. A touching view of divorce from a child's point of view.
(17 mins.)
SPONSORED BY HAVUVAH SHALOM.
JAN 22
WED 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
US 2000
DIRECTOR: ALAN BERLINER What is the sweetest sound? Why, the sound of
one's own name. In this intimate and lively personal essay, documentary
filmmaker Alan Berliner (INTIMATE STRANGER, NOBODY S BUSINESS) dives headlong
into the name pool in search of the treasures and dangers hidden inside
the two words that make up his name. Along the way, the filmmaker confronts
his parents about the origins of his name and conducts on-the-street interviews
with outspoken New Yorkers. He also tracks down and invites every Alan
Berliner in the world to his house for dinner. His guests include Belgian
filmmaker Alain Berliner, LA celebrity photographer Alan Berliner, and
Massachusetts s dermatologist Allen I. Berliner. Other research includes
visits to The New England Holocaust Memorial, Ellis Island, and the AIDS
Quilt. Viewers are sure to come away with a greater sense of the power
and magic embedded in a name, and of the ways in which one's identity
is shaped by one's name. (60 mins.)
WITH
US 2001
DIRECTOR: LISA UDELSON An all-American, Jewish, lesbian, folk-singing,
surfin, flat-topped Tupperware Lady, Phranc is the ultimate hyphenate.
After decades in the LA punk music scene, the androgynous singer-songwriter
decided to settle down to enjoy a more stable family life. Her idea of
settling down, however, is hilarious, outrageous, and inspiring. Wearing
an apron, pants, and bow tie, with her trademark flat-top, Phranc uses
her cross-dressing, way out-of-the-closet lesbianism to full advantage,
boldly going where no Jewish lesbian has gone before into the living rooms
of America to sell a product with an enthusiasm bordering on mania. Her
success and acceptance prove the Tupperware motto: "Attitude is everything."
(58 mins.)
JAN 23
THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
US 1975
DIRECTOR: ARTHUR HILLER Adapted from the stage play by actor Robert Shaw,
Hiller's gripping courtroom thriller tells the story of Arthur Goldman,
a wealthy, New York industrialist who is abducted by Israeli secret agents,
brought to Israel, and accused of being a Nazi war criminal responsible
for thousands of deaths. Maximilian Schell, received an Oscar nomination
for his performance as Goldman, a man who forces his accusers to face
not only his presumed guilt but their own. " A deeply moving study
of guilt and memory, and one of the most probing films about the Shoah".
-FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER. (117 mins.)
JAN 25
SAT 5 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
Today we welcome Los Angeles film historian, collector and distributor
Murray Glass for a wonderful program of vintage on film musical performances
by legendary Jewish entertainers. Divided into four sections classical,
popular, jazz and comedy among the featured personalities are such stellar
performers as Jascha Heifetz, Benny Goodman, Mel Tormé, Henny Youngman,
Al Jolson, Bette Midler and Molly Picon, as well as a numerous lesser-known
talents. As those who enjoyed Glass' previous PJFF presentation SHTICKS
AND COMICS can attest his appreciative knowledge of the performers and
materials adds immeasurably to these screen rarities. (2 hrs.)
Sponsored by Cedar Sinai park.
JAN 25
SAT 7:30 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
FRANCE 2001
DIRECTOR: PASCALE BAILLY Audrey Tautou, the expressive star of AMELIE,
once again proves irresistible in this charming, contemporary romantic
comedy that reaches out across cultural boundaries. Tautou plays Michèle,
a pixilated model-cum-spiritual-quester who decides to convert from Buddhism
to Judaism when she falls for François, a down to earth Jewish
veterinarian. As secular as Michèle is spiritually inclined, François
can't quite muster the requisite enthusiasm for his girlfriend's energetic
embrace of all things Jewish, especially when she insists that he prove
his love by being more observant. A son of Holocaust survivors living
in Israel, François doesn't need reminders that he's Jewish. With
a light touch and sure sense of irony, first-time feature director Pascale
Bailly explores Jewish identity, interfaith coupling, and France's ethnic
mix. (95 mins)
JAN 26
SUN 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
ISRAEL 2002
DIRECTOR: DANNY VERETE Winner of the Best Film Prize at the Haifa Film
Festival, YELLOW ASPHALT is made up of three short films which explore
the collision between ancient Eastern tradition and Western modernity
in the visually stunning Judean desert, once the sole domain of the Bedouin
tribes. The tragic death of a Bedouin boy accidentally struck down by
two Israelis in a truck, the impossible marriage between a German woman
and her Bedouin husband and the forbidden love affair between a Bedouin
maid and her Israeli employer shed penetrating light on conflicting views
of life and death, patriarchal authority, and justice and honor. "At
heart these tales are about the human condition-passion and deceit, carelessness
and love, courage and selfishness-in which no one culture has a monopoly
on virtue or vice. While the film does not directly address the volatile
politics of the Middle East, the uneasy coexistence of Bedouins and Israelis
is as unmistakable a presence in the film as the dust and wind of its
inhospitable desert landscape."-A. O. Scott, THE NEW YORK TIMES.
(87 mins.)
JAN 30
THU 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
ISRAEL/ PALESTINE 2001
DIRECTOR: RAANAN ALEXANDROWICZ Before the current round of Israeli-Palestinian
violence, the only way for ordinary Palestinians who didn't work in Israel
to visit the country was to take a guided tour. The INNER TOUR is a fascinating
account of one such "sightseeing" trip undertaken in 2000. Despite
their bitterness over what they see as Israeli appropriation of their
land, the Palestinians' emotional return to their "homeland"
forces them to confront the existence of the other, with quietly startling
results. One Palestinian man, unexpectedly, decides to visit the memorial
to slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. A Palestinian woman, whose
husband is in jail for murdering an Israeli soldier, shows an understanding
of what the slain man's mother must feel about losing her son. Others
on the trip, who come from Palestinian towns, the refugee camps, even
from Jordan, have differing reactions to what they observe around them.
Their unscripted interactions, with each other and the Israeli who drives
the tour bus are gripping, poignant and never predictable. They allow
us to look at familiar scenes through another's eyes. Alexandrowicz's
film is an evocative plea for peace and understanding between two peoples.
(99 mins.)
FEB 1
SAT 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
SWITZERLAND 2001
DIRECTROR: XAVIER KOLLER This elegant, expansive period drama, directed
by Academy Award winner Xavier Koller, is a study of friendships changed
by political events. Set in pre-Nazi Europe, the film is based on the
Jewish poet, journalist and social critic, Kurt Tucholsky's semi-autobiographical
novel, "Castle Gripsholm." The films crusading journalist and
girlfriend accept an invitation to leave Berlin to spend a holiday at
a friend's Swedish estate, Castle Gripsholm (now a Swedish national landmark).
There, with two other friends, they spend what turns out to be an idyllic
summer. Concerned about his future as a journalist in Nazi Germany, Kurt
thinks of staying on in Sweden. Meanwhile, the German Reich brings treason
charges against him. Towards summer's end, a serious rift develops in
the men's friendship, with Tucholsky finally accusing his aviator friend
of being a Nazi sympathizer. The real Tucholsky moved to Sweden in 1929,
saw his books banned in Germany, was stripped of his German citizenship
and committed suicide in 1935 at age 45. This film, with its gorgeous
cinematography, strong performances and memorable musical score (with
cabaret song lyrics by Tucholsky), is a tribute to this brilliant, lost
man. (102 mins.) Mature content
FEB 2
SUN 3 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
ISRAEL 1999
DIRECTOR: ARNON GOLDFINGER This entertaining documentary follows the amazing
Burstein family, a popular Yiddish vaudeville troupe on an incredible
journey from Europe, through Israel and South America, all the way to
New York's Second Avenue. Rare clips of the totally original Pesach'ke
Burstein (who ran away from home in Poland to join a traveling theater),
home movies with his wife Lilian Lux and their children Susan and Mike
Burstyn (a popular performer today), and interviews reveal a lot about
the Golden Age of Yiddish theater and life on-the-road for a family of
performing artists. Winner of the Israeli Academy Award for Best Documentary.
(92 mins.)
SPONSORED BY congregation BETH ISRAEL.
FEB 11
TUE 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
US 2001
DIRECTOR: JUDITH HELFAND, DANIEL GOLD Activist filmmaker Judith Helfand, who explored the devastating effects of DES on her own body in A HEALTHY BABY GIRL is not one to look the other way when a potential toxin gets too close to home. So when her Jewish parents affix vinyl siding to their suburban Long Island abode, she gets suspicious. Armed with a big blue slab from the home improvement project, Helfand marches straight to the centers of vinyl production to get the skinny on the seemingly harmless plastics, used not only to make cheap, durable siding but also flooring, toys, credit cards, IV bags you name it. Taking a personal comedic approach, directors Helfand and Gold brilliantly link unlikely stories and characters across continents, race, and class to uncover the impact of vinyl manufacturing and disposal on the atmosphere, the food chain, and humans. It is not a pretty picture. You will never look at plastic the same way again. SAN FRANCISCO JEWISH FILM FSTIVAL. Winner of the Documentary Award for Excellence at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. (98 mins.)
Co sponsored by Northwest Jewish Environmental Project.
|
|