The Charlotte Jewish News - August 2015 - Page 20
Charlotte Jewish Film Festival: Take 2
It was a simple decision 11
years ago - screen a couple of
movies over a weekend and see if
the community shows any inter
est. And with that insightful idea,
the Charlotte Jewish Film Festival
(CJFF) was bom.
Over the last decade, the CJFF
has become one of the premiere
cultural events in the region that
now offers year round program
ming (28 events expected in
2015). While Hadassah and the
Levine JCC (LJCC) have pro
vided the incredible support
skeleton from which it has
worked from, the Charlotte Jew
ish Film Festival has always been
ran by an all-volunteer staff (in
cluding its director), making its
annual growth and success all the
more remarkable.
Because of the size, scope, and
budget of its programming, the
CJFF has taken the next logical
step in its development - hiring a
paid, part-time director.
After careful consideration,
Hadassah and the Levine JCC
have decided that the position will
fall under the LJCC’s Visual and
Performing Arts umbrella and be
supervised by its director, Susan
Cherin Gundersheim. Benjamin
Schwartz, who has been involved
with the Charlotte Jewish Film
Festival since 2013, was recently
hired as the CJFF Director under
this new organizational model.
“I am very grateful and appre
ciative of this opportunity” said
Schwartz. “Debby Block, Jodi
Former Film Festival direetors Benjamin Sehwartz, Jeff Turk, and Riek
Willenzik.
Greenwald, Jeff Turk, and Rick
Willenzik have created this in
credible leadership legacy and I
am very excited about getting the
chance to continue working with
the amazing CJFF team. Together,
I am quite confident that we will
be able to meet the challenges of
keeping the Charlotte Jewish Film
Festival’s positive momentum
moving forward.”
While the organizational struc
ture is now a little different, the
end product will be the same - the
CJFF will bring the community
films and value added program
ming that will make you laugh,
cry, think and feel.
Please be sure to check out the
just released details of the CJFF’s
2nd Annual FallFlicks’ lineup on
page 16 or at charlottejewish-
film.com. ^
HADASSAH
I
AVTS 4 KIE44CE
COUNCIL
T HE
I.EON
I.F.VI N R
FOU NIDATION
V5^
Jewish Federation
OF GREATER CHARLOTTE
School
The Giver - and Receivers
- of Jewish Tradition
lF Knight Foundation
9 4 * T ■ q -
JCC
This is an excerpt from a
speech given by Amy Vitner, Pres
ident of the Charlotte Jewish Day
School Board of Directors, at
Graduation.
On behalf of our Board of Di
rectors, it is my honor to welcome
you here tonight to the Charlotte
Jewish Day School’s Graduation
Ceremony in celebration of the
Class of 2015. Not only do we
celebrate our 22 graduates, we
celebrate the many accomplish
ments of our alumni; we celebrate
our parents who entrust us with
their children every day, and for
the second year in a row achieved
100% participation in annual fund
giving; we celebrate our 48 legacy
donors who have made an incred
ible commitment to secure the fu
ture sustainability of our school;
we celebrate our PTO for coordi
nating fun and engaging activities
for our families; and last but not
least, we celebrate our teachers
who impart knowledge, critical
thinking skills, and a Judaic foun
dation that will last a life time.
CIDS
^ Charlotte Jewish
Day School
If you have read the book The
Giver by Lois Lowry, you are fa
miliar with the story of a society
where its citizens lead a very
peaceful, content, and functional
existence with no war or suffer
ing. There is a catch. To maintain
this existence, centuries of knowl
edge, history, art, music, and any
information without a practical
purpose has been eliminated.
Even eyesight has been altered to
see only black and white. For the
people of this world, life is pretty
boring, but nobody knows what
they are missing.
There is one exception, and
that is The Giver, who serves as
the repository for all of human
ity’s passions, history, and knowl
edge, both good and bad, and is
responsible for passing all of this
information on to a single person
known as The Receiver. As the
Giver begins to transfer informa
tion to The Receiver, something
begins to happen. The Receiver
begins feel more deeply. Instead
of seeing in black and white, the
Receiver begins to see in color.
For the Receiver of the world’s
knowledge and history, life takes
on a whole new level of signifi
cance and purpose.
(Continued on page 25)
rri
THE JEWISH INFANT CARE IN CHARLOTTE
FOR AGES 6 WEEKS+
The most important decision youTl make
is who will care for your baby. You cart feel secure
knowing that your baby has a warm, nurturing Jewish
environment that feels like home. We offer:
* Low teacher-child ratios
• Teachers with degrees in Early Childhood Development
or a related held
‘ An environment filled with love, stimulation and care
JPSonSardis.org
Our Full Day Infant Care is now
accepting appiications for
Summer 20161
★ ★ ★ * *
JPS is a NC LicensedS StcirPreschool,
serving ages 6 weeks - PreK.
jps
For more information, contact; Dedee Coldsmrth, M,A.
704.364,6395 (dodee@ipsonsardis.org
Tm 6619 Sardis Road j Charlotte, NC 28270
H* S«r4li
TnkrMm