Tag Archives: new york jewish film festival

HAVA NAGILA (THE MOVIE)

Documentary delves into the fascinating history behind traditional Jewish song that became an international sensation

HAVA NAGILA (THE MOVIE) (Roberta Grossman, 2012)
Lincoln Plaza Cinema, 1886 Broadway between 62nd & 63rd Sts., 212-757-2280
Opens Friday, March 1
www.havanagilamovie.com
www.lincolnplazacinema.com

“What’s up with this song? So kitschy, yet so profound,” director and narrator Roberta Grossman says at the beginning of her rollicking documentary, Hava Nagila (The Movie). “And what’s the deal with the chair?” A staple at Jewish celebrations, primarily weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs, “Hava Nagila” instantly gets friends and family members out on the dance floor, forming a circle and doing the Hora. Grossman delves into the history and mystery of the catchy song, which over the years has been performed by an unlikely crew that has included Harry Belafonte, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, Johnny Yune, and Regina Spektor, all of whom appear in the film and discuss the tune’s popularity. (There are also archival performances from all around the world as well as an anti-“Hava” song from Bob Dylan.) Also putting “Hava Nagila” into perspective are Yiddish theater veteran Leonard Nimoy, communications professor Josh Kun, and KlezKamp founder Henry Sapoznik, a “Hava” hater who says with a more than a touch of cynicism, “It’s relentless. It’s resilient. But then again, so are cockroaches,” a statement that exemplifies Grossman’s playful attitude, exemplified by her corny captioning and clever clips from such TV shows and movies as Laugh-In, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Danny Kaye Show, A Serious Man, Wedding Crashers, History of the World Part I, and Fiddler on the Roof. But she also reveals another side to the song, as described by professor James Loeffler, who explains, “‘Hava’ is a portal into a century and a half of Jewish history.” Grossman ( Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh) sets off on what she calls a “Hava Quest,” venturing to the village of Sadagora in Ukraine, the birthplace of the song, and later meeting with two warring families battling over authorship of the words and music. She traces its impact on the development of the State of Israel and the Jewish migration to suburban America, and, yes, she lays out precisely what the words of the song mean. Like the song itself, Hava Nagila (The Movie), which sold out its recent appearance at the New York Jewish Film Festival, is a fun and fanciful frolic into the fascinating story behind one of the most famous songs that so many know so little about.

NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL: HAVA NAGILA

Documentary delves into the fascinating history behind traditional Jewish song that became an international sensation

HAVA NAGILA (THE MOVIE) (Roberta Grossman, 2012)
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater
70 Lincoln Center Plaza, 65th St. at Amsterdam Ave.
Tuesday, January 15, 6:00
Festival runs January 9-24
212-875-5601
www.thejewishmuseum.org
www.havanagilamovie.com
www.filmlinc.com

“What’s up with this song? So kitschy, yet so profound,” director and narrator Roberta Grossman says at the beginning of her rollicking documentary, Hava Nagila (The Movie). “And what’s the deal with the chair?” A staple at Jewish celebrations, primarily weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs, “Hava Nagila” instantly gets friends and family members out on the dance floor, forming a circle and doing the Hora. Grossman delves into the history and mystery of the catchy song, which over the years has been performed by an unlikely crew that has included Harry Belafonte, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, Johnny Yune, and Regina Spektor, all of whom appear in the film and discuss the tune’s popularity. (There are also archival performances from all around the world as well as an anti-“Hava” song from Bob Dylan.) Also putting “Hava Nagila” into perspective are Yiddish theater veteran Leonard Nimoy, communications professor Josh Kun, and KlezKamp founder Henry Sapoznik, a “Hava” hater who says with a more than a touch of cynicism, “It’s relentless. It’s resilient. But then again, so are cockroaches,” a statement that exemplifies Grossman’s playful attitude, exemplified by her corny captioning and clever clips from such TV shows and movies as Laugh-In, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Danny Kaye Show, A Serious Man, Wedding Crashers, History of the World Part I, and Fiddler on the Roof. But she also reveals another side to the song, as described by professor James Loeffler, who explains, “‘Hava’ is a portal into a century and a half of Jewish history.” Grossman ( Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh) sets off on what she calls a “Hava Quest,” venturing to the village of Sadagora in Ukraine, the birthplace of the song, and later meeting with two warring families battling over authorship of the words and music. She traces its impact on the development of the State of Israel and the Jewish migration to suburban America, and, yes, she lays out precisely what the words of the song mean. Like the song itself, Hava Nagila (The Movie) is a fun and fanciful frolic into the fascinating story behind one of the most famous songs that so many know so little about. Hava Nagila, which opens March 1 at Lincoln Plaza, is screening January 15 at the twenty-second annual New York Jewish Film Festival, presented by the Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, with Grossman on hand to participate in a Q&A following the show.

NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2011

Lou Reed will participate in a discussion following a screening of his documentary RED SHIRLEY, about his hundred-year-old activist cousin

Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St. between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.
January 12-27, $12
212-721-6500
www.filmlinc.com
www.thejewishmuseum.org

The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Jewish Museum will be celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the New York Jewish Film Festival with nearly three dozen shorts, documentaries, and narrative features, many of which will be followed by discussions with members of the cast and/or crew. The festivities begin January 12 with Percy and Felix Adlon’s MAHLER ON THE COUCH, which details the great composer’s sessions with Sigmund Freud while his wife dallies around with architect Walter Gropius. Festival veteran Daniel Burman (EMPTY NEST, WAITING FOR THE MESSIAH) returns with 36 RIGHTEOUS MEN, a documentary examining an Orthodox pilgrimage to the tomb of the Baal Shem Tov. Lily Rivlin looks at the great writer in GRACE PALEY: COLLECTED SHORTS, Jonathan Gruber examines Jewish Americans who fought in the Civil War in JEWISH SOLDIERS IN BLUE AND GRAY, Erik Greenberg Anjou profiles the popular band in THE KLEZMATICS: ON HOLY GROUND, Eve Annenberg incorporates Hasidism and the Kabbalah into the Yiddish mumblecore picture ROMEO AND JULIET IN YIDDISH, klezmer hip-hop artist Socalled will perform with Katie Moore after a screening of Garry Beitel’s THE “SOCALLED” MOVIE, and a special showing of George Marshall’s 1953 biopic, HOUDINI, pays tribute to its late star, Tony Curtis, and will be followed by a magic performance by Josh Rand. The festival concludes on January 27 with Avi Nesher’s drama THE MATCHMAKER, which was nominated for seven Israeli Academy Awards.

NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

EYES WIDE OPEN examines forbidden passion at Jewish Film Festival

Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St. between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.
January 13-28, $11
212-721-6500
www.filmlinc.com

The nineteenth annual Jewish Film Festival at Lincoln Center consists of thirty-two films, nearly every one a New York or U.S. premiere, examining topics both familiar and new, including photojournalism, Israeli cinema, WWII, the Middle East, religious tradition, homosexuality, anti-Semitism, and activism, ranging from Michaël Prazan’s three-hour EINSATGRUPPEN: THE DEATH BRIGADES to Adam Elliot’s claymation MARY AND MAX and restorations of Henry Lynn’s BAR MITZVAH (1935) and Falk Harnack’s THE AXE OF WANDSBEK (1951). This year’s crop once again comes from all over the Jewish diaspora, with feature-length narratives, shorts, and documentaries from Australia, Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, Romania, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the UK, Israel, and the United States. Ludi Boeken’s SAVIORS IN THE NIGHT, about German farmers protecting a Jewish family during World War II, is the opening-night selection, while Marleen Gorris’s WITHIN THE WHIRLWIND, about the struggles of poet and teacher Evgenia Ginzburg (Emily Watson), is the closing-night choice. Many of the films will feature introductions or postscreening discussions with directors, producers, and subjects. In addition to the Walter Reade Theater, several special screenings will take place at the JCC in Manhattan and the Jewish Museum.

NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL: MARY AND MAX

Max becomes friends with an Australian girl in charming claymation film

MARY AND MAX (Adam Elliot, 2009)
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater
70 Lincoln Center Plaza, 65th St. at Amsterdam Ave.
Saturday, January 23, 9:00
Sunday, January 24, 8:45
212-875-5601
www.maryandmax.com
www.filmlinc.com

Winner of numerous awards at film festivals all over the world, Adam Elliot’s stop-motion animated MARY AND MAX is the touching, unforgettable tale of two loners who become pen pals, sharing the details of their hopes and dreams over decades. Mary (voiced by Bethany Whitmore as a young girl and Toni Collette when she gets older) is an oddball child living in a small town in Australia. Seeking a friend, she sends a letter to a random person she finds in a phone book. Max (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a childlike middle-aged man suffering from Asperger’s Disorder in New York City. Through the years, their long-distance relationship goes through emotional ups and downs, building to a surprising ending that still has us scratching our heads. Elliot, who won an Oscar for his short film HARVIE KRUMPET in 2003, wrote, directed, and designed the sets and characters for MARY AND MAX, inspired by the photography of Diane Arbus. He brings Mary and Max to life in charming ways, adding little details and flourishes that will endear you to them even though they both are very, very strange. The film, wonderfully narrated by Barry “Dame Edna” Humphries, required more than 130,000 individual frames and 212 puppets and took 57 weeks to shoot; the result is simply charming. MARY AND MAX is being shown this weekend at Lincoln Center as part of the New York Jewish Film Festival; executive producer Paul Hardart will be in attendance at the January 23 screening. (The film is also part of the Reel Abilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival running January 28 – February 2, presented by the JCC in Manhattan.)