From the early days of Hollywood, films involving Jewish themes have been an integral part of the movie business. The first feature-length Hollywood “talkie” film, where both music and dialogue were on the filmstrip itself, was the 1927 film “The Jazz Singer.” The movie depicted a young man struggling over his decision between the stage…
Peter Gordon has only been the head of Pardes Jewish Day School in Scottsdale since August 2017, yet when you speak to him, his passion for both his position and the school are evident. “Our faculty is incredible, they are the ones who inspire their students to pursue excellence and achieve their best,” he says…
Michael Levine is no stranger to saving historic buildings. For more than 20 years he has been a developer, transforming old warehouses slated for the wrecking ball into vibrant restaurants, shops and galleries in downtown Phoenix. But in 2007, he embarked on an entirely different journey of preservation when he was introduced to a boarded-up…
Jan. 11-21, 2018 SaddleBrooke Kick-Off – Sunday, Jan. 7, 3 pm, $5 HAROLD & LILLIAN: A HOLLYWOOD LOVE STORY (USA, 2016, 94 min., English) Two unsung heroes working in the Hollywood system for six decades, storyboard artist Harold Michelson and film researcher Lillian Michelson, left an indelible mark on classics by Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg,…
February 11-25, 2018 1945 (Hungary, 2017, 91 min., Hungarian with subtitles) SCREENINGS: Scottsdale – Thursday, Feb. 15, 7 pm Peoria – Monday, Feb. 19, 3 pm On a summer day in 1945, an Orthodox man and his grown son solemnly return to a village in Hungary where villagers are preparing for the wedding of the…
January 27-29, 2018 The 13th Annual West Valley Jewish Film Festival will be held on January 28-29 at Beth Emeth Congregation, 13702 W. Meeker Blvd. in Sun City West. The three films shown at this year’s festival are “The Pickle Recipe,” “Remember” and “Arranged.” Tickets for each film are $12 if purchased at the door….
In 1933, the Viennese actress Hedy Keisler sparked an international furor by swimming nude in a provocative melodrama called “Ecstasy.” Alas, it was the tragic fate of Hedy Lamarr, as she was renamed when she arrived in Hollywood, to be perpetually judged by her face and figure rather than her intellect. A riveting portrait of…
Legend notwithstanding, the unforgettable image of Moses dividing the Red Sea in the 1956 epic “The Ten Commandments” was not handed down at Mount Sinai. Nor was it the product of director Cecil B. DeMille’s imagination, although he assuredly basked in the oohs and aahs of audiences and critics. In fact, a gifted Jewish storyboard…
Tremayne Smith has become a very outspoken advocate for Israel lately. His passion for American-Israeli relations from a political perspective began in college at East Carolina University, where he was the student body president. It came alive for him when he participated in Jewish National Fund’s Caravan for Democracy Student Leadership Mission in January of…
Sherrie Zeitlin was an artist in the schools in the 1990s when she first noticed funding for the arts was dissipating. She decided then that when she could, she would put her money “where her mouth was.” The result is the Art Resource Center. Since 2004, The Art Resource Center, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, collects…
