The Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival: Two weeks, seven towns and 14 international movie gems

By MAREVA LINDO Bulletin Contributing Writer

Published on March 12, 2010

Jewish sumo wrestlers; the risk of being gay in Jerusalem; and a son's attempt to save his father's failing insurance company - those are just a few of the subjects of films to be featured in the upcoming Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival, March 11-24.

The festival, now in its fifth year, offers "really high-quality international films that generally don't get to commercial theaters," said festival director, Janet Kaplan Bucciarelli. The 14 screenings will take place in Amherst, Northampton, Greenfield, Longmeadow, Shelburne Falls, Springfield and West Springfield.

The venture's fifth year marks new collaborations with the Family Business Center at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which will co-sponsor the film "The Worst Company in the World," and the Out! for Reel LGBT Film Series, based in Northampton, co-sponsor of "City of Borders." Bucciarelli says these connections allow both the festival and the organizations to reach a broader audience.

The various documentaries, comedies and dramas of the festival come from around the country and the world - but one comes from just around the corner.

Deerfield resident Stephen Billias is the director of "Seeking the 36," a documentary that tracks a teen's journey to find the 36 Just Souls of Jewish folklore.

"There's a legend in Jewish folklore that in every generation there are 36 people who are so virtuous that they keep the rest of the world from falling into chaos for the rest of us," said Billias in a recent phone interview.

In Hebrew, he says, they are called "lamed vov."

"These are not famous people, these aren't the Mother Teresas and Richard Geres of the world, these are the butcher, baker and candlestick maker of the world."

The film's concept is borrowed from a sci-fi/fantasy novel written by Billias in 1988, called "Quest for the 36." In this version of the story, Billias says, a rabbi alarmed at the state of the world puts a "detective character" to the task of finding and bringing together the 36 souls, so that they might restore peace and balance to the Earth.

Though Billias has written numerous screenplays, "Seeking the 36" is his first film to be produced. His co-producer Dennis Lanson, on the other hand, has produced many documentaries, as well as the 2000 independent, full-length feature, "Pitstop."

Billias met Lanson at the MacDowell Writer's Colony in Peterborough, N.H. - a favorite retreat of figures like Leonard Bernstein, Alice Walker and Michael Chabon. Lanson liked "Quest" so much, he translated the story to a screenplay.

Nothing came of it, however, until the two decided to take up the quest themselves.

"We decided we'd go out and look for the 36 in the world today, and see if we could really find these people," Billias said.

That initiative would become "Seeking the 36."

The film's sleuth is Nico Lanson, Dennis' daughter, who was then a 17-year-old student at Andover Preparatory School in Andover. While there, she had made a short film that shared the themes of "36," particularly that of the troubled state of the world. Billias says her involvement "transformed the film."

Father and daughter, and Billias, gathered interviews from folks around the area and the state, including a street musician, a couple of kabbalah experts, and a Northampton shoemaker.

They also went to Boulder, Colo., to speak with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of the Jewish renewal movement, which "tries to get people to have a more direct experience of Judaism," Billias explained.

The out-of-state excursion proved worth the effort.

"He's one of those people that, when you talk to him, you feel like you're experiencing someone who's on another level," Billias said. "He's just one of those really wise people in the world."

Whether or not the team found a genuine Just Soul, Schachter-Shalomi and dozens of others provided a wealth of thoughts on the myth, who these people might be, and how to remedy the ills of the world, Billias says.

"Seeking the 36" will be shown alongside "Bewoket: By the Will of God," which documents the work of Dr. Rick Hodes, an American Orthodox Jew who for 20 years has provided health care to thousands of Ethiopians. The screenings are Monday at 3 p.m. in Seelye 106 at Smith College in Northampton.

From across the globe

From a completely different corner of the world, the festival brings us "City of Borders," an award-winning documentary that follows the stories of five gay and lesbian Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem. Their lives converge in the city's only gay bar. Some risk death just to get there.

Directed, written and produced by South Korean-born journalist Yun Suh, the film will be shown Saturday, Mar. 20 at 8 p.m. in the Weinstein Auditorium at Smith College in Northampton. "City of Borders" is Suh's directorial debut.

Jaime Michaels, executive director of the Out! for Reel LGBT Film Series in Northampton, calls the story "very compelling."

"The film speaks to the courage of these people to live their lives and identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender," she said.

For Arab, Palestinian and Israeli gay communities alike, the bar is a refuge from what Michaels describes as Israel's "homophobic" society. For many, she says, it is the only place where their lifestyle is accepted.

One scene documents a Palestinian man's attempt to cross illegally into Israel to reach the bar; in doing so, he risks getting shot. Another shows a gay pride parade in Jerusalem - which Michaels describes as more political, and less outrageous, than what one might find in New York - in which a gay man is stabbed several times.

The film put things in perspective for Michaels. "Here, you think about going to a gay bar, and it's a totally different thing."

And though the film focuses explicitly on stories from the gay community, Michaels calls its message "universal."

"It's about the struggle to be themselves, live their lives, love who they want to love in a safe way, and to have human rights," Michaels said.

Perhaps a testament to that universality, the 2009 documentary has appeared in festivals - both gay-oriented and general - around the world, including the Barcelona International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, the San Francisco International Film Festival, and many more. It is also the recipient of the Teddy Audience Award of the Berlin International Film Festival, among other achievements.

Idit Klein, executive director of Keshet, will speak at the screening about the current state of gay rights in Israel and Palestine. Keshet is a Boston-based organization that works to foster a welcoming Jewish community for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews in the region and around the country.

The Out! for Reel LGBT Film Series shows award-winning gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender films from around the world on a monthly basis. For information, visit www.outforreel.org.

General admission tickets ($9; $7 for students and seniors; $32 for a set of four) are available at Broadside Bookshop, 247 Main St. in Northampton and at the Jewish Community Center, 1160 Dickinson St. in Springfield. Tickets may also be purchased at the door 30 minutes prior to the screening. Some showings require separate ticketing.

For information, visit pvjff.org or contact festival director Janet Kaplan Bucciarelli at 439-1984.