Opening up a dialogue with film

By TOM KANE

NARROWSBURG, NY — Two motion picture aficionados who have recently retired from the industry will bring their passion, their experience and their expertise to a unique kind of film festival, “Love and the New World Order Film Series,” to be shown in our area during March and April.

Jack and Jan Hirschfeld both have had a long record of achievements in the film industry, though far from Hollywood. “We are not in the entertainment business,” Jack said. Their work venues have been locations like New York City, Boston and Washington, DC. Over the years that go back to the 1960s and 1970s, they worked in such film categories as documentaries, educational films, training films, political films and certain kinds of feature films that have a strong viewpoint.

This interest in film as a purveyor of fact and ideas as well as imagination shows up in the second part of the upcoming film series’ themes: “the new world order.” What they mean by that is the trend of globalization and the effect it has on us.

“We are not isolated in our world anymore,” Jan said. “There have been connections between people that have aided us in the past and still can in this new world. We need to nurture these connections. Our jobs are being outsourced to China and India. NAFTA is very much in the news with the two contending Democratic primary rivals. How do we handle these occurrences and what redeeming role does love play in it? We think it can play a lot.”

Their perspective on film as a tool that can help us understand the real world leads to another of their interests: talking about film. That’s why they will be leading discussions following each film in the series.

“We’re trying to engage people and encourage them to see other people’s viewpoints,” Jan said.

“Our single outcome in our film series is to get people talking about the issues in the film,” Jack said. “That sometimes leads to discussions of other vital things that might not have been in the film.”

The films chosen for the upcoming series put their lovers in the midst of a variety of issues and controversies, from poverty and pandemics in “The Girl in the Café,” which describes a May-December romance set against a G-8 Summit of Nations in Iceland; to the use of language to conceal as well as reveal in “The Secret Life of Words,” set on an offshore oil rig; to energy scarcity, nuclear dangers and official corruption in “The Half Life of Timofey (sic) Bersezin.”

The films are only three of many that have touched and impressed the Hirschfelds throughout their lives. “Nothing can get into your skin like a good movie,” Jan said.

“The films don’t have to be great films,” Jack said. “They can even be inferior films, and they can still lead to a great discussion.”

Both the Hirshfelds have mastered a variety of skills within the industry. Jack got started in films as an editor, then became a director and finally a producer. Jan started as a script girl, then directed and also did a little script writing.

The industry has also taught them to expect the unexpected.

“You never know what will happen to your film,” Jack said. He related how he made a film on the Black Panthers in the 60s. “When something happened and the local police confiscated the film, we found out much later that the police were using the footage as a training film,” he said.

Film series in the Upper Delaware

Love and the New World Order

“The Girl in the Café” will be shown at the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance (DVAA) at 37 Main Street, Narrowsburg NY on Tuesday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m.; and at the BOCES Auditorium, Education Center, 22 St. John St, on Thursday, March 20. “The Secret Life of Words” will be shown at the DVAA on Tuesday, March 25; and at the Senior Citizens’ Center (Neighborhood Facility), 2 Jefferson St., Monticello, NY on Thursday, March 27. “The Half Life of Timofey Berezin” will be shown at the DVAA on Tuesday, April 1; and at the BOCES Auditorium in Monticello on Thursday, April 3. All showings at 7:00 p.m. For more information email info@artsalliancesite.org or call 845/252-7576.

CineArt

Films are shown one weekend a month from September through May, except March, by the Callicoon Theatre in Callicoon, NY, in conjunction with the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance. The next CineArt film will be “There Will Be Blood,” starring Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis, on Friday, April 11 through Monday, April 14. For more information call 845/252-7576 or 887-4460.

Wayne County Arts Alliance—

Monday Night Cinema

Films are shown on Monday nights at 8:00 p.m. at Cinema 6 in the Route 6 Mall in Honesdale, PA. Screenings are followed by a discussion. This year’s season will run through March 17. The next movie will be Ingmar Bergman’s “The Magic Flute,” on March 10.

Smiles of a Winter Night

Comedy film festival shows double features at 7:00 p.m. on alternate Saturdays through April 19 at the Catskill Art Society in Livingston Manor, NY. The next show, on March 8, will feature “The Road to Morocco” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”