Lift me up

Tyme Khleifi (L) and Avri Levitan playing Ross Birrell’s “Lift Me Up For I Am Dying” in Berlin. Photo from ASU Museum in Tempe.

Our daughter Jennifer, who studies cultural anthropology at ASU in Tempe, recently asked what I thought of the film “La Rafle,” which dramatizes a roundup of Jews living in Paris during the Holocaust. “It has a happy ending,” I told her. There’s nothing happy about recounting the horrors of the Holocaust, but too many people shy away from films on the subject for fear they’ll see only cruelty and death.

I should have explained instead that the film has a “hopeful” ending. There are survivors, including children. And there are people who risked their own lives, and those of family members, to fight evil with courage and compassion. Reflecting on the Holocaust is an act of remembrance and a call to action. Individuals can make a difference, even in the face of mass murder. It’s one of many insights conveyed by “La Rafle” filmmakers.

“La Rafle” is currently showing at Harkins Theatres Camelview 5 in Scottsdale

I’m hoping to see two additional films with Jewish themes this week, both on ASU’s Tempe campus. Tonight ASU Jewish Studies is screening “The Miracle of Purim,” which imagines an anti-semitic Catholic with Jewish ancestry, who learns he’ll receive an inheritance only if he returns to his Jewish roots.

“The Miracle of Purim” is part of ASU’s current “Polish-Jewish Film Series.” Tonight’s 7pm screening in Cottonwood Hall (room 103) at Barrett, The Honors College, also features a discussion with faculty members Daniel Gilfillan and Anna Cichopek-Gajraj. The film was made in Poland, is directed by Izabella Cywinska, features English subtitles and runs just 57 minutes.

ASU Art Museum presents the premiere of Ross Birrell’s short film “Duet: Lift Me Up For I Am Dying” through Saturday, Nov. 24. The museum, always closed on Sundays and Mondays, will be closed Nov. 22 and 23 for the Thanksgiving holiday — so you have just Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday of this week to see it. The film runs continously during museum hours, and museum admission is free.

“Life Me Up For I Am Dying” was composed by Birrell using the last spoken words of poet English romantic poet John Keats. The film “Duet” combines separate individual performances of the piece by Palestinian violinist Tyme Khleifi and Israeli violinist Avri Levitan. Each plays a different tempo, so the combination results in dissonance imbued with the possibility of harmony.

Folks who plan ahead can mark their calendar now with dates for next year’s Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival, taking place at three Harkins Theatres — Camelview 5 in Scottsdale, Crossroads 12 in Chandler and Arrowhead 18 in Peoria — Sunday, Feb. 10 to Sunday, Feb. 24.

Additional Jewish film festivals taking place next year include the New York Jewish Film Festival (Jan.) and the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (July/Aug.). Learn more about Jewish films by visiting The National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

— Lynn

Note: GPJFF films for 2013 were originally listed incorrectly in this post–so watch for updates as 2013 film titles are confirmed.

Coming: Lightning strikes in Scottsdale, Journalist faces ethical dilemma