COM bulletin - Congregation of Moses

Jewish Film Festival finishes on high note
The 2013 Southwest Michigan Jewish Film Festival
began with “The Other Son” on April 13 and finished
strong with “The Yellow Ticket” on April 21. With
each successive festival we have grown, not only with
the number of films we’ve been able to bring to this area,
but also with increased attendance and a broader range
of community support. First, we would like to thank the
Jewish Federation of Kalamazoo and Southwest Michigan.
Beth Grode, Federation President, and the entire Federation
Board have been very supportive of the film festival since
its inception in 2009. We are fortunate to be under the
Federation’s “umbrella” of programs that strengthens
not only the Jewish community in this area, but also the
community at large.
We appreciate each and every dollar contributed to the
film festival. These generous contributions help us meet
our many expenses and bring unique films to our area.
Special thanks to our business sponsors: Child & Family
Psychological Services (Larry Beer, Ed.D., film sponsor),
Randall L. Brown and Associates (film sponsor),
Professional Life Coaching (Annie Fainsinger), Career
Momentum (Rhonda Messinger), Kenneth A. Goodman,
DDS, and Comprehensive
Women’s Health Center (Cathy
Cheron, M.D.). These local
community leaders chose to
support Jewish culture, and we
hope that you will thank them by
patronizing their businesses.
A special thank you to three
businesses that were new festival
partners this year, and who made
significant in-kind donations
that greatly benefited the film festival. First, the planning
committee was thrilled to work with Carolyn and
Brad Kennedy at LuckyDog Media. Their beautifully
designed brochure, flyer, program and emails helped us
to dramatically improve our publicity and marketing of
the film festival. Second was the Raddison Plaza Hotel
and Suites, which generously donated hotel rooms for the
two musicians who performed the score to “The Yellow
Ticket.” Also providing an in-kind donation was Mike
Siegel of MS Productions who lend his expertise to the
sound production of "The Yellow Ticket" at a discounted
rate. Again, we hope you will acknowledge our sponsors'
generosity by supporting these local businesses.
We are equally thankful for our individual sponsors. These
24 donors have been a key part of our success during
each of our three film festivals, and we could not have a
festival without their support. This year, special thanks go
to Anne Arbetter Fischell, Nancy Land, and Jeanne and
Marc Schupan, who generously sponsored three of our
films. Please see page 11 for a full list of sponsors.
If you have questions about the Jewish Film Festival,
please feel free to email Naomi Morse at michiganish@
yahoo.com. Thanks again to everyone who made this
year’s film festival successful. See you again in 2015!
The Southwest Michigan Jewish Film Festival
Planning Committee:
Naomi Morse, Chair
Annie Fainsinger
Pat Kirschner
Charlotte Marvin
Janet Nykaza
Jerry Robbins
Myral Robbins
Jill Ruterbusch
Liz Siegel
We’d like to take this opportunity to answer an often-asked question: How do we choose our films? We are pleased to be
part of Detroit’s Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival. By sharing the cost of licensing fees, shipping and insurance with
Detroit’s other sites, these costs are much more affordable for us. Staff and volunteers in Detroit screen more than 200 films
each year before they narrow their choices down to approximately 30 films for showing throughout Eastern Michigan.
In consultation with Detroit’s film festival director, we choose and preview approximately eight films each year, and these
are viewed by some members of the Southwest Michigan Jewish Film Festival Planning Committee. Our final choices are
made with certain criteria in mind. We choose films that have the most engaging stories, the broadest appeal, and are as
varied as possible. While we would love to show a comedy or family-friendly film at each festival, high-quality options are
not always available to us. Jewish film festivals throughout the country would like to show more kid-friendly films, but
unfortunately, good options are few and far between. We did show one film this year that was not part of Detroit’s lineup
(“The Yellow Ticket”), and the planning committee will evaluate if it is feasible to do this again in the future.
PAGE 16
FESTIVAL FILMS: HOW WE SELECT THEM