Current Events - Spring 2008

JEWISH film series 2008

**All films are shown in the Greenbriar Theater located in the Student Union at 2 pm on Sundays.**

 

Yentl -  1/27/08
         This film tells the story of Yentl Mendel, the boyishly klutzy daughter and only child of the Talmud teacher from an Ashkenazic shtetl in Poland.  Yentl’s father teaches Talmud (a codification of Jewish Law) to local boys - and to Yentl even though girls were not allowed to learn the Jewish law in that period. When her father dies, Yentl takes the momentous decision to leave the village disguised as a boy in order to seek admission to a Yeshiva (Orthodox Jewish School) to study the texts, traditions, subtleties and complexities of the Talmud. (1983) 132 minutes.

The Fixer - 2/3/08
          Set in tsarist Russia around the turn of the century and based on a true story of a Russian Jewish peasant named Yakov Bog, played by Alan Bates. Bog was wrongly imprisoned for a horrendous crime - the "ritual murder" of a Gentile child in Klev.  (1962) 132 minutes.

A Stranger Among Us - 2/10/08
           In this film Melanie Griffith is cast as a tough New York City Cop, Emily Edith. When a brutal murder occurs among the Hasidic Jews, Emily goes undercover in the Hasidic community to find the culprit of this heinous crime. (1192) 110 minutes.

Fateless - 2/17/08
            This award winning film tells the story of a Hungarian boy who comes of age at Buchenwald during World War II. György Köves gets a job at a brickyard after his merchant father is shipped off to a forced labor camp. Soon after, György’s work bus is stopped and its Jewish occupants sent to camps. There György witnesses suffering, cruelty, and death. Through his trials he hears advice on preserving one's dignity and discovers hatred. (2005) 140 minutes.

Judgment at Nuremberg - 2/24/08
           Judge Dan Haywood, played by Spencer Tracy, arrives in Nuremberg in 1948 to preside over the War Crimes trial of four Nazi judges.  Each of the judges is charged with having abused the court system to cleanse Germany of the “politically and socially undesirable,” making them accessories in Hitler's war crimes. (1961) 186 minutes

Cast a Giant Shadow - 3/2/08
           An American Army officer, with Jewish ancestry, is recruited by the yet to exist Israel to help them form an army. While each of Israel's neighbors vows to invade the poorly prepared country this officer is made commander of the Israeli forces just before the war begins. (1966) 146 minutes.

Ushpizin - 3/30/08
            Moshe and Mali, a devout orthodox couple, married nearly five years and childless, are broke and praying for a miracle. Suddenly, their prayers are answered. A friend finds Moshe a sukkot, Moshe becomes the beneficiary of local charitable fundraising effort, and two escaped convicts arrive on Moshe and Mali's doorstep in time to be their ushpizin, their guests. (2004) 90 minutes.

Everything is Illuminated - 4/13/08
           A young Jewish American, Jonathan, flies to the Ukraine in search of his grandfather's past. Armed with only a photograph of his grandfather’s village, Jonathan hires the Odessa Heritage Tours, made up of a gruff old man and his English-speaking grandson, to help him coordinate his travels. During the journey into the heart of the Ukraine each of the three travelers comes to terms with his past. (2005) 106 minutes.