Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

ighlighlS this dynamic: "'filled with the music ofGypsy musicians who continue to play
the traditional Yiddish melodies, director/musician Yale Strom (The lAst Klezmer) has
created a wonderful docwnenwy on the soul ofJewish music" (Toronto Jewish Film
Festival. 1996: 12). Films like these have proved so popular with festival anendees that
for the 1997 festival, A TicJcJe in (he Heart (1996), a docwncntary about klezmer music
and focusing on the Epstein brothers who have come out of retirement with the recent
klezmer revival, was the official closing night film. Tickets for this screening, which was
held on a Thursday night, were sold out by the previous weekend. Music plays a vital
role. not only in entertaining the Festival anendees between screenings. but also functions
as a major motif for the understanding ofJewish culture in general.
The prestigious placemem ofA Tickle in the Hearl as the closing night film. also
demarcates the final of Stoellje's activities. the concluding event (Stoeltje. 1992: 265).
Like the opening of the Festival. at Southern Accents. the 1997 Toronto Jewish Film
Festival ended with a closing night celebration. a party for all those who were involved.
physically and financially with the year's Festival. Interestingly enough. the closing ofthe
Toronto Jewish Film Festival. for the staffof the Bloor cinema. was really a transitional
period: no sooner had the Toronto Jewish Film Festival cleared OUL when the whole
procedure began again with another of Falassi's "rites of purification". this time for the
Inside/Out Film Festival. which began the next day.
CINEMA AS LIMINAL EXPERIENCE
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