Jewish film comes to America as Regal Cinemas hosts the First Annual Knoxville Jewish Film Festival beginning this Saturday.
The Jewish Student Center and Regal Cinemas coordinated the event.
According to Allison Castel, president of the Jewish Student Center and member of the KJFF Committee 2000, a lot of planning went into the event.
The planning started last June. We have been holding meetings since then and sent many letters to the community and businesses asking for sponsorship. We got these grants and many others to support the cause, Castel said. Regal Cinemas is not holding any money for the ticket sales, they are donating a part of the theater. We are very grateful for their support.
According to a recent press release, the purpose of the KJFF will be to celebrate the diversity of the cultures represented and show artistic films that are unlikely to be screened in Knoxville.
The event not only will host films strictly from the Jewish community, but screenings will also be held for films from Germany, Argentina and the United States.
UT History Professor and Festival Chair Todd Diaon said that it was the committee's goal to welcome the entire community to view the films. He hopes it will be a community wide experience.
The films are representative of various categories, one, The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, centers around the life of a Jewish baseball player. The movie is an American film and was directed by Aviva Kempner. Another film, Kadosh, is about a married couple who live in the ultra-Orthodox section of Jerusalem and their struggle with law and the ability to conceive children. The film is in Hebrew with English subtitles.
Jewish Student Center Director and member of the KJFF Committee 2000 Moema Furtado said the films covered a variety of issues dealing with different aspects of life.
The films are independent films dealing with issues that are relevant not only to Jews, but the whole community issues of race relationships, sexuality and others. Our main goal by choosing these films is to be able to promote diversity and understanding between all, Furtado said.
All films not produced in the English language will contain English subtitles.
Castel hopes that the event will continue in the future.
We are hoping to start having the festival as a yearly event. It is a lot of work, but the end result will be well worth it, Castel said.
Showtimes for the films vary throughout the day. The festival will run until Monday. Tickets to the event are $6.75 for adults and $4 for students. Advance tickets can be purchased by calling 690-6343. For further information check out the festival Web site at http://web.utk.edu/~mlewison/KJFF.