PNC, Partners Presents Jewish Film Festival on Sunday, March 8, 2015

purdue-north-centralPurdue University North Central Odyssey Arts and Cultural Events Series, with the Michigan City Public Library and the Irving Levin Jewish Cultural Fund of Sinai Temple, will present a Jewish Film Festival on Sunday, March 8 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Michigan City Public Library, 100 E. Fourth St. in Michigan City. The film festival is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be enjoyed during a coffee klatch and cake break.

The Film Festival features two films that will inform and inspire.

“Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem” (2014) unrated. Narrated by Alan Alda. This film presents portraits of two noted icons – Sholom Aleichem and Theodore Bikel, bringing together Bikel's storytelling and masterful performances with Aleichem's life and work. The film is shot with deep humanity and Yiddishkeit.

Aleichem is considered a pioneer of modern Jewish literature and champion of the Yiddish language. He created dozens of characters - Tevye the Milkman, Motl the Cantor's Son and Menachem Mendl "shtetl Jews" who became windows into pre-war Eastern European Jewish life, real and imagined.

Now 90, Bikel’s career spans more than 150 screen roles, plus stage and musical productions. He played Tevye the Milkman, by and large in “Fiddler on the Roof,” on stage more than 2,000 times. He is a fitting partner to Aleichem’s portrayals of real and fictional Jewish life.

“Room 514” (2012) Unrated. Hebrew with English subtitles. Room 514 was described as “a tense and ambitious drama” by “The Jerusalem Post.” The film tells the story of a female Israeli soldier who is ordered to interrogate an elite Israeli officer who is alleged to have abused a Palestinian family. Because she has a lower rank and is a woman, she is not taken seriously by the man she is questioning in Room 514. Those around her urge her to drop the case - it is too political, too complex and too notorious. But she digs in, seeking justice for the victims. The “Jerusalem Post” notes that “Many in the audience abroad will come away with more respect for Israel when they realize how seriously Israelis grapple with issues here, and it will give them a new understanding of how complicated the situation actually is.”

Purdue University North Central Odyssey Arts and Cultural Events Series features events throughout the year. A schedule of events can be found at www.pnc.edu. For more information about these films, or any event in the Odyssey series, contact Judy Jacobi, assistant vice chancellor of Marketing and Campus Relations at 785-5200, ext. 5593.