By Yvonne Greenberg
LA JOLLA, Caifornia — “They usually run the gamut from things that have family disruption to political themes to musical,” explained Joyce Axelrod in a phone interview about some of the plots in Shorts in Winter, a free San Diego Jewish Film Festival program on Monday, February 14 at Clairemont Reading Town Square14 at 3 PM, which is part of the Joyce Forum.
Shorts in Winter is a collection of short films, each with a specific theme, from talented and emerging filmmakers of all ages.
The Joyce Forum will also include more seasoned filmmakers at the same theatre later in the day. At 5 p.m. a discussion will be held by accomplished filmmaker Sam Ball of his work-in-progress film, Joann Sfar Draws From Memory, and at 8 PM documentarian Susan Polis Schutz’s intriguing and inspiring completed feature-length film (70 minutes), Over 90 and Loving It, will be shown.
Axelrod, the founder of the San Diego Jewish Film Festival 21 years ago, emphasized that the festival has been featuring short films since the beginning of the Joyce Forum (about eight years ago) but has called it Shorts in Winter for the past four or five years–thinking it was a cute name since the festival is always in February.
“We used to do the shorts from emerging filmmakers, a whole program of shorts, sometimes two presentations of just short subject films. The films would be sent to us from many different places and we would look for films that were short subjects. Five years ago a short from the festival and submitted by a middle-aged person even won an Academy Award .”
.
This year, Axelrod, along with her dedicated committee (Curators: Judith Friedel, Francine Ginsburg, Helen Fleming, Marty Goldberg, Devorah Gurantz, Michele Kipnis, Peter Levine, Sandra Silverstein, Don Wolochow, Marcia Wolochow, and Stacy Ziman; plus Claudia and Mark Title, who, in Axelrod’s opinion, are experts in short subject films who go to other short film festivals around the country, specifically the Palm Springs Short Film Festival in the summer), previewed about two dozen short films (less than 30 minutes in length), a number which has remained mostly the same over the years..
Why are there so many Israeli films being shown at the San Diego Jewish Film Festival? “There are four or five superb film schools in Israel today. The Israeli government gives funds to the film schools and they are very supportive and interested in their films. And there is just a burgeoning number of films from Israel. And they have become more sophisticated technically, in their scriptwriting and in their filmmaking. We just love getting Israeli films!”
At 5 PM, – Joann Sfar Draws From Memory
Discussion of a Work in Progress. Meet the award-winning filmmaker Sam Ball.
His documentaries on art and arty people have been exhibited from the Sundance Film Festival to the Museum of Modern Art in New York to film festivals worldwide.
The film follows a celebrated male French graphic novelist on a whimsical journey through the Algerian-Jewish heritage that inspires his work, which culminates in a delightful blend of storytelling.
“Sam Ball has been associated with the San Francisco Film Festival for years. We, the film festival people, have known him for seven or eight years. We knew that he was a serious and seasoned filmmaker. We had the idea that this year we would collaborate with an organization called The Foundation for Jewish Culture, which every year through their Kroll Awards Funds gives finishing funds to filmmakers.
He has not finished his film, but we thought it would be fascinating for him to bring his unfinished film, to present whatever he has in segments, telling us how he got the idea for the film, how long ago he started filming it, where he got some of his funds to continue filming, what the script will eventually look like, how long it has taken him, any number of things that I think are fascinating about an unfinished film.”
8 PM: Over 90 and Loving It
Guest Artist: Director: Susan Polis Schutz
Joyce Axelrod was quite impressed with the vibrant subjects of this well-constructed film. “All the subjects of the film were having the very creative times of their lives! They are very alert, they have a lot of energy, and the film shows that not everybody in their later years has to slow down. These people are remarkable! It is a great movie! One of the more enchanting things in the film are two people in their nineties who get married and they actually have a formal wedding where she walks down the aisle in a white dress and veil.
Most everyone in this film is usually upbeat because they are enjoying good health. They are all doing something they feel passionate about. One of the guys is a senior olympian gold winner and you see him doing the pole vault. Another one is a taxi driver in the heart of New York. A woman in Texas bakes and serves cinnamon rolls five days a week. Another couple plays a group piano.
I would like to encourage people to bring their children and not their parents because this is not really a movie for older people. This movie shows that there are people who are enjoying life. It is a charming and uplifting film that really inspires us to live to the fullest.” La Jolla resident Laura Simon, 105, is one of the people featured in the film. She will appear on a panel following the showing of the film.
.
*
Yvonne Greenberg is a freelance writer based in La Jolla.