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Karen
Davis, Executive
Director
Dec. 11-19, 1999
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Dear Friends,
Welcome to
the 14th Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival—an
international film experience for all film-lovers!! Our films speak
to the
world-wide Jewish experience, and they come from places as diverse
as
Ireland to Iraq, Borough Park to Buenos Aires, with stops in France,
Canada, Hungary, Israel and Sweden. They appeal to sophisticated,
dedicated film-goers like yourselves who come to sit in the dark in
order
to be illuminated, entertained, stimulated and enlightened by the
images
they see on the screen.
In recognition
of the achievements of the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival, the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has given it an "Oscar"
-a cash award. Our award-one of
a handful given out nationally and the only one of its kind awarded
in Palm Beach County-helps
us bring films and filmmakers who normally wouldn’t appear here.
It’s well known in the nonprofit
arts world that box office receipts are responsible for less than
60% of all revenues. The
rest is made up by grants and awards from foundations, business, and
individuals. That’s why
we’re so grateful to our Benefactors and Donors who purchase
passes, to the families who’ve
established endowments for the PBJFF, to our business sponsors, and
other individual
underwriters.
Many films
this year are about men whether in romantic comedies like Samy
Y Yo and
Bit By Bit, in thrillers like The
Burial Society, or in films celebrating friendship like
The Bronx
Boys, narrated by Carl Reiner, or the heart-warming
Boys of Buchenwald. Then, there are
profiles of famous men-architect Louis Kahn (My
Architect), photographer Robert Capa (In
Love and In War), playwright Arthur Miller, director
Elia Kazan (None Without Sin), and John
Garfield who was Jewish and sexy on the screen!
Adolescents
also figure prominently in films like Miss Entebbe
and Rose’s Song which
show how world politics and tensions can have a devastating effect
on childhood. We’re
especially proud to award our first "Best Student Film"
prize to Lauren Miller for Happy
Holidays.
If there are
any themes in this festival, the first would raise the question "what
does it
mean to be a Jew." In a very timely film My Terrorist,
we witness the filmmaker change from
being a victim of terrorism to becoming an advocate for her terrorist’s
release. The films in our
"The Mensch in Movies" program (The Collector
of Bedford Street, Today You Are a
Fountain Pen," and The Bat Mitzvah
Gift) also reflect basic Jewish qualities.
The second
theme "where do I fit in" is almost universal. In the charming
fable James’
Journey to the Holy Land, an innocent young African
learns that Jerusalem, the dream, may
not be Jerusalem, the reality. In Foreign Sister,
a middle-class Israeli woman and an Ethiopian
Christian learn they have more in common than their outer differences
would suggest. In
Forget Baghad, Iraqi Jews have problems
in both Iraq and in Israel, and in Divan,
the
filmmaker strengthens her family ties by buying a couch in a Budapest
market.
Probably the
most controversial film in the festival is our "center piece"-West
Bank
Brooklyn. Made by a young Palestinian-American from
Brooklyn, only a small part deals with
Jews. But in dealing with assimilation, identity, divided loyalties,
and inter-generational conflicts,
our screening committee felt there were so many similarities between
the Palestinian experience
on the screen and the Jewish experience that one member said "We
really are ‘kissing cousins.’"
So, I invite you to sit back, get your popcorn and soda and see as
many films as you can.
After all, you can play tennis, golf, or cards anytime, but these
films only come around once!
See you at
the movies!!!
Karen Davis
Executive Director
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