First Godfrey Film Night a Great Success
Robin with his display
Robin Godfrey presented a brief history of his parents’ Charleston Film Club and talked about their involvedment with programming the Jewish Cultural Series for almost 30 years. He made a display with an easel so people could learn about some of the many things his two parents, Peter and Rebecca, did during their 50 years in Charleston. Hundreds of people, both Jewish and non-Jewish including myself, attended the event that some say was the “best Jewish film night ever.” ( Director Dr. Fred Pollock)
The mynion with Rabbi Ureck on right. Dr. Pollack and Robin Godfrey on far right
Before the two films there was a mynion with Rabbi Urecki leading the prayer meeting in hallway across from the theater provided by The Greater Huntington Theater Corp. free of charge.
The WV Jewish Festival people ran ads for more than a week in local newspapers and Bob Schwarz wrote a nice story about the event in the Saturday Gazette-Mail. Schwarz also published a nice “Best Bet” article with a still from “Jellyfish” in the Thurday Gazz.
Robin talking about his parents
As Robin said, his parents would have loved the program, mixing a great documentary on Simon Wiesenthal and a lyrical film from the New Wave of Israeli cinema. “Jellyfish” won “best first feature” at the 2007 Canne Film Festival. Every January or February into the inderminate future, this first event of the West Virginia Jewish Film Festival will be named in honor of the Godfreys so that people will always have a chance to learn about the lifetime of dedication to bringing the best Jewish films to one of the least Jewish states in the country.
Hundreds including at least one of Robin’s sons watched “I Have Never Forgotten You - the life and legacy of Simon Wiesenthal” in rapture, giving it an ovation at the end. ( See my review of the film elsewhere on this blog.) It was great to see the film on the Big Screen, showing the details of steps he had to climb - stairs to Hell. I am sure that I wasn’t the only person to shed some tears during the film. I particularly enjoyed his comment that the story of Ann Frank moved people more than the facts of the Nuremberg Trials. I also was amazed that people have been denying the reality of her story for decades now.
At 7 PM there was a 10 minute break, and “Jellyfish” began. There were even some additional people who came just for that film. I overheard one person say to another, “I don’t know what this film means….” and her friend saying, “I don’t think we will ever find out….” Even Dr. Pollock asked me what it meant. Luckily, my super-intelligent wife Frani explained it to me - ” The missing little girl is the little girl in all of the women. They have all been abandoned. But in the end, they all found happiness.” I really enjoyed the very different view of the lives of three women in contemporary Tel Aviv, two Jewish, one Filipino caring for seniors.
Plans are already in motion for the spring 2008 Jewish film night. I hope that the two films shown are two new documentaries shown at the recent Washington, DC Jewish film festival about the first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court Judge, Brandeis, and a new film about recent murders in Greensboro, NC that involve activist Jews working with blacks in that town.
Dr. Steven Artz, Kanawha County Health Board member, famous anti-smoking advocate, with just-turned 70 year old media activist John Stone with his friend.
