Celluloid success story

Vancouver Jewish Film Festival continues to grow.
BAILA LAZARUS EDITOR

Continuing its trend of growth, the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival (VJFF) has seen a 200 per cent increase in participants over the last six years. And the increased number of films and viewers is reflected in a new theatre being added to the venues (Oakridge Cinemas) and a snazzy new 32-page bound program brochure.

This year's printed schedule is a keeper that can easily share a shelf with the souvenir programs from bigger festivals, such as the Vancouver International Film Festival. VJFF director Morey Altman said the reason was due to an increase in advertisers being interested in the festival and a desire to be more professional looking.

"I think there's a recognition by people in the community that we are reaching lots of people other organizations don't – younger, less affiliated people," said Altman, adding that the festival attracts many non-Jewish film-goers, as well.

Altman is obviously pleased about the increase in attendance (numbers have grown from 1,700 in 1997 to 5,400 last year), but is especially gratified that Vancouver's festival has actually passed that of Montreal's, in terms of attendance.

"This is significant," said Altman, "because [Montreal] not only has a larger population but a larger Jewish population."

The addition of Oakridge Cinemas to the list of venues was another coup for Altman, who said the festival was always selling out for opening night (normally held at the Norman Rothstein Theatre) with the potential of selling several hundred more tickets. Looking around for other theatres, Oakridge seemed to be the most logical choice. So keen was the theatre's general manager that he started looking into the kashrut of food being sold at the concession stand.

With the growth of the festival comes a few more headaches, of course, but also a little more clout to get films that are making the rounds on festival circuits. The irony is that now the Jewish Film Festival is competing with its larger cousin, the Vancouver International Film Festival, for Vancouver premières.

"We've really worked hard this year to get higher quality films, so now we're fighting with other film festivals for the good films," said Altman.

Sect of indifference

Amen, which opens the festival May 15, is just one of the high-quality films Altman is talking about. The feature-thriller, starring Ulrich Tukur (Solaris) and Mathieu Kassovitz (Amélie), and directed by Costa-Gavras (Music Box, Z), examines the involvement, or non-involvement, of the Catholic Church in Germany's affairs during the Holocaust.

The film is based on the true story of Kurt Gerstein (Tukur), a scientist who specializes in purification. His expertise is needed to direct the production and distribution of Zyklon B, not for the destruction of parasites, as he first believes, but to kill Jews.

Appalled by the Nazis' plans, Gerstein starts collecting information about the death camps and tries to enlist the help of various ambassadors and clergy to speak out against the killings, but to no avail.

Church members tell him that if they were to speak out against Adolph Hitler, they could be tried for treason. As well, he's told, the majority of the church followers and pastors are behind Hitler and, besides, no one would believe him, anyway.

Gerstein finally gets the help he needs, or so he thinks, from Father Ricardo (Kassovitz), a Jesuit priest whose connections in the Vatican extend to the Pope. But Ricardo also runs into wall after wall, not because they don't believe what's going on (most do) but because they fear that harm would come to the Christians living in Germany if they were to interfere. When it becomes clear that the Church will never denounce Hitler, Ricardo decides to make the ultimate sacrifice and join a trainload of Jews heading for the camps.

This is a film that is sure to get wide release, due to the subject matter, the superb acting and excellent direction. Though some of the visuals and the dialogue are hard to take, it is a film not to be missed.

Amen screens as part of the opening gala at Oakridge Cinemas, May 15, 7 p.m. Tickets are $25.

Keeping her son alive

It's been nine years since Hannah Vazana has seen or spoken to her son. He has been "dead" to the family since he was caught and imprisoned for revealing state secrets. When her husband suffers a stroke, Hannah doesn't accompany him to the hospital. Instead, believing that anger is killing her husband, she sets out to visit her son, Menahem, in an effort to gain an apology from him and reunite the family.

Hannah's venture outside her small town is the story of Mother V. At age 60-plus, Hannah, a religious Jew, leaves Dimona for what seems to be the first time since she and her husband emigrated there from Morocco. Given the wrong directions from a youth, Hannah gets on the wrong bus and there begins her adventure.

Once she realizes her mistake, Hannah demands to be let off the bus in, basically, the middle of nowhere. As she unsuccessfully tries to hitch a ride to Ashkelon, a young Bedouin boy, Adnan, reluctantly comes to her aid. Together, they experience a few misfortunes, meet some interesting people and form a touching bond. Adnan ends up helping Hannah with more than just getting to Ashkelon; he helps her find her independence and he helps her be proud of her son, despite his being a "traitor."

Mother V is an episode of Israel's The Voices of the Heartland TV series, which features the works of young Israeli filmmakers. Director Shahar Rozen does an excellent job, as do the actors in this engaging 52-minute drama.

In Hebrew with English subtitles, Mother V shows at Pacific Cinémathèque Sunday, May 18, 7 p.m. It is preceded by Embrace Me, an Israeli documentary about Moroccan liturgical poet, singer and composer Jo Amar.

– Cynthia Ramsay

So, there's a rabbi...

Jewish humor helps us reconcile with reality, it puts situations into perspective, it has curative powers. These are some of the ideas presented in director Stephan Rabinovitch's documentary The Smile of Isaac (Le Sourire d'Isaac).

A combination of live interviews and joke-tellings, archival footage and segments from feature films, The Smile of Isaac attempts to sort out all the different aspects of Jewish humor; from the new immigrant humor often depicted by the Marx Brothers to the black humor of Israel, which is born out of tragedy. There are also differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardi humor. There is the Shnorer – whose chutzpah is both made fun of and tacitly admired – and the stereotype of the Jewish American Princess.

Anyone looking to refill their arsenal of Jewish jokes should see The Smile of Isaac. There are plenty of offerings in its 52 minutes. The educational value of the documentary is less tangible, however, as no one interviewed is named and, therefore, it is unknown if the analyses are from academics, comedians or lay people. Then again, that may not matter to some viewers.

The Smile of Isaac is in French, Yiddish, English and Hebrew with English subtitles. It plays at Pacific Cinémathèque Monday, May 19, 9 p.m. It is preceded by Advice and Dissent, an American comedy about a man who enlists his rabbi's help to end his hopeless marrriage.

– Cynthia Ramsay

No ace up his sleeve

Imagine the frustration of not being able to remember your friends, whether you turned on the stove or how to play a card game you've been playing weekly for 16 years. This is the situation faced by Alex in Poker Face.

Alex and his wife, Ana, have been meeting with three other couples every Friday night – the women play tile rummy while the men play poker. Only in his late 50s, Alex has begun to forget. While his friends are sympathetic to his plight, they are also concerned with the quality of their poker game. They decide to hold a vote on whether Alex will have to give up his seat at the table.

Director Eitan Anner deftly captures the anger felt by Alex, which exhibits itself in brief outbursts at first but then eventually boils over in an emotionally charged scene. Alex's anger is compounded by confusion, as he doesn't completely understand what's happening to him – Ana has not shared with him the doctor's diagnosis of Alzheimer's.

Ana's character is one of sadness and strength. She holds back her own grief and anger as she tries to convince her friends to let Alex stay in the game. The portrayal of a wife who loves her husband deeply, yet is unable to help him, is done with honest, unexaggerated sentiment.

In Hebrew with English subtitles, Poker Face is an episode of The Voices from the Heartland Israeli TV drama series. It is at the Norman Rothstein Theatre Monday, May 19, 9 p.m. Before it is the Israeli short film A-maiseh (A Tale), about Mendel, a Holocaust survivor, and his attempt to help his Filipino aide Jose stay in the country.