Rebecca and Peter Godfrey in their final days, still smiling.

Update - Dr. Fred Pollock, president of the WV Jewish Film Festival, has announced that the annual Jewish Film Night on January 13th, 2008 will be called “The Peter and Rebecca Godfrey Film Night” in honor of the two people who programmed the Charleston Jewish Cultural Series for many years. 

[
Charleston, WV January 2, 2008]   Federated Jewish Charities of Charleston is sponsoring the 10^th annual Peter and Rebecca Godfrey Jewish Film Night (West Virginia Jewish Film Night)   at the Park Place Stadium Theaters on Sunday, January 13^th, at 5:00 PM. The event has been renamed in honor of the two founders of the film program, Peter and Rebecca Godfrey. Derek Hyman, president of the Greater Huntington Theater Corporation, has graciously donated the use of the theater for this event- as he has for eight previous years.  

The two films that will be shown are I Have Never Forgotten You – The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal   and Jellyfish (Meduzot). Both films are being shown in
West Virginia for the first time. 

About Peter and Rebecca GodfreyTheir son, local activist/lawyer Robin Godfrey will talk about his parents. They started their WV film programming in their backyard on

in Charleston’s
East End in 1951, showing a film in their backyard. They co-founded the Charleston Film Club with Milton Koslow and Mel and Gloria Ogrin. A decade latter Peter began programming the Jewish Cultural Series. The series included  many films that were shown  at the B’Nai Jacob Synagogue on the East End or

Temple
Israel.  

Steve Fesenmaier, who read an article the Godfreys wrote about running a small film society during his first month working for the University Film Society in
Minneapolis in September 1972,  first assisted them in programming in the winter of 1979, showing the Oscar-winning film “Lies My Father Told Me” at the B’Nai Jacob Synagogue. During the coming decades Fesenmaier served as projectionist and programmer, showing such films as “The Nasty Girl” and “The Golden Age of Second Avenue.” The Godfreys also programmed many other Jewish Cultural Series events, bringing in celebrities such as Wolf Blitzer from CNN, world-famous opera singers and other musicians, and many experts on Jewish history and culture. They provided world-class programming for the Jewish and non-Jewish people of the

Kanawha
Valley. Rebecca passed on February 28, 2003 with Peter dying on September 14, 2004 after spending a few months in a local nursing home. He was 90 and Rebecca was 88. They were married for 65 years, producing three children – Eric, Robin and Naomi.  

I Have Never Forgotten You – The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal – 5:00 PM  

RELEASE DATE:   March 2007

TIME:  105 mins.
 
DIRECTED BY: Richard Trank Synopsis 

This film is a comprehensive look at the life and legacy of Simon Wiesenthal, the famed Nazi hunter and humanitarian. Narrated by Academy Award winning actress Nicole Kidman, it features interviews with longtime Wiesenthal associates, government leaders from around the world, friends and family members–many of whom have never discussed the legendary Nazi hunter and humanitarian on camera. Previously unseen archival film and photos also highlight the film. What was the driving force behind his work? What kept him going when for years the odds were against his efforts? What is his legacy today, more than 60 years after the end of World War Two?   

Official website - http://www.moriahfilms.com/site/pp.asp?c=brKMIZPIIuE&b=273989 

Jellyfish (Meduzot)   information – 7 PM  

RELEASE DATE: June 2007 in
Israel. April 2008
New York City.  

TIME:  78  mins.
 
DIRECTED BY: Shira Geffen and Etgar Keret. Synopsis Winner of “best first feature in the world” at Cannes in 2007, this film challenges all stereotypes about life in
Israel. The lives of three women—one a new bride, another a waitress, and a third a Filipino health aide—intersect, showing how random life often is. The film reveals their amazingly simple but poignant lives, portrayed with the ultimate cinematic art.  This artistic film is about romance, isolation, communication, youth, and aging with the background of Tel Aviv,
Israel’s most cosmopolitan city. 

Official website - www.zeitgeistfilms.com/jellyfish                

Both films are free to the public and open to everyone. 

  This film series is part of the Jewish Cultural Series that has been sponsored by Federated Jewish Charities of Charleston for more than 50 years, first under the direction of Peter and Rebecca Godfrey. During the last nine years Dr. Fred Pollock and other members of the two Jewish congregations in
Charleston have programmed many cultural events including this film series. Steve Fesenmaier of the West Virginia Library Commission has been assisting the programming since 1978.  

## End ## 

The first week I worked in the film world in September 1972 in Minneapolis I read an article they had written about running a small film series. Latter Peter gave me his own copy of the article. The Godfreys were from NYC and New Zealand, and brought first-rate cultural awareness to the little town of Charleston. They were proud that they read the NY Times daily, learning all about films and culture. I doubt if any current member of the Jewish Cultural Series group can say the same.

I first met them when I helped them show the film, “The Shop on Main Street.” I knew the Oscar-winning director, Jan Kadar from Minneapolis. We went down the street afterwards to the Red Carpet and had a drink. They invited me to their home many, many times, and they visited us at our homes, in Kanawha City and Forest Ridge. For years I usually projected at least one film each winter season, either at the Synagogue or at The Temple. They were always well attended and I was made to feel like part of the extended family.

We have always been friends with their activist son Robin (who works with Patriots for Peace)  and his activist wife, Mary Ellen O’Farrell who is a co-founder of the Christians for the Mountains. ( She recently got a great story in the Charleston Gazette for buying a billboard demanding Bush’s impeachment.)

Rebecca was in the Appalshop film, “Chemical Valley, ” since she was one of the Concerned Citizens for MIC. She was busy every day of her life, and lived every minute. As did Peter.

Peter Godfrey as a young man - raised in New Zealand.

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