January and February are big months for film aficionados in Arizona. We host two of the longest-running Jewish film festivals in the country. The 26th annual Tucson International Jewish Film Festival presented by the Tucson Jewish Community Center will run from Jan. 12 through 22 and the 21st annual Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival will…
When Leonard Nimoy announced in 1949 that he wanted to be an actor, and was leaving Boston for Hollywood, his Russian-Jewish parents were stunned. “My grandfather said that he should take up the accordion,” says Adam Nimoy, Leonard’s son and the director of the new documentary “For the Love of Spock.” “You could always make…
A Tale of Love and Darkness” may seem like a nondescript and even coyly evasive title, but in fact it expresses the essence of Natalie Portman’s textured film of Amos Oz’s book. An unfailingly sensitive though necessarily compressed adaptation of Oz’s acclaimed 2004 memoir, the movie portrays the author’s nurturing yet fraught childhood with his…
Americans of a certain age fervidly recall the “miracle on ice” at the 1980 Olympics. Three years earlier, Israelis celebrated their own iconic sports moment – also involving the Soviet Union. Los Angeles-based filmmaker Dani Menkin grew up in Tel Aviv, so he was naturally a fan of the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team. In…
The 12th Annual West Valley Jewish Film Festival will be held on Jan. 28-30 at Beth Emeth Congregation, 13702 W Meeker Blvd., Sun City West. The festival has a musical theme this year. There will be moments of recollection, gratitude, joy and warmth. Heroes will emerge and icons will be recognized. The three films to…
2017 Film Schedule Saddlebrooke Kick-off – Sunday, Jan. 8, 3:00 pm, $5 Encore screening of Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did for Love (2013, USA, 85 min., English) Composer, conductor, genius, mensch – Marvin Hamlisch was as close to a modern day Da Vinci as it gets. Co-presented by Northwest Division, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona…
VENUES: Harkins Shea 14, 7354 E Shea Blvd., Scottsdale Harkins Chandler Fashion 20, 3159 W Chandler Blvd., Chandler Harkins Arrowhead Fountains 18, 16046 N Arrowhead Fountains Ctr. Dr., Peoria TICKET PRICES: $11.00 for adults ($13.00 at the door) / $7 for students (ID required, 25 yrs & under); $150.00 Festival Pass (see all 18 movies) For…
Colette Jobin was working 12½-hour shifts as a nurse in the NICU and raising three young children as a single mom when she realized – this is not going to work! She was working on patients’ charts thinking, “I am going to have to give this up!” when a fellow nurse named Colleen, out of…
One of the most important issues on the ballot in a special election last May was Proposition 123. Its passing by Arizona voters means funding for the state’s unique K-12 public school system, which is comprised of both charter schools and traditional public schools. Thanks to the efforts of both business and education leaders in…
Scott Pelley receives Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism On Nov. 21, Scott Pelley, the managing editor and anchor of the “CBS Evening News” and correspondent for “60 Minutes” received the 2016 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism from Arizona State University. ASU Provost, Mark Searle, presented the award to Pelly to recognize…
