Roger Williams University (RWU) has partnered with the Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) to present its Spring-edition of the bi-annual Roving Eye International Film Festival. The popular and acclaimed Festival celebrating global cinema and artists, announces its 2019 Spring sidebar program on The Jewish Experience through short films, documentary, media and guest speakers. This year’s Jewish Experience theme is “ARTS AND CULTURE: Storytelling Through Time,” and is presented by a grant from the Edwin S. Soforenko Foundation.
The event takes place April 9, 10 & 14th. This year’s programming explores representations of the Jewish experience in Israel, across the globe and the Holocaust through 11 premiere films, including sneak peeks of films that will play the Rhode Island International Film Festival in August. The series is hosted by the Rev. Nancy Hamlin Soukup, University Multifaith Chaplain at RWU and includes a conversation with Andrew Lund, filmmaker /screenwriter/educator/lawyer.
"Through film and scholarship, this series tells the stories of the Jewish experience globally—stories of joy, sorrow, faith, a rich culture, Diasporas, fear and ultimately, hope,” said the Rev. Nancy Hamlin Soukup, co-organizer of the event with Flickers.
Students in the Curation and Film Production Class include: Faisal A. Almowisheer, Adam Carceller, Adam E. Charles, Augusto L. Gardel, Kaitlin R. Kowalik, Alexandra E. Lindell, Allison K. McPhail, Alicia Moore, Philip G. Neamonitis, Colin P. Quaglino, Kayla S. Sokolowski, Cynthia O. Souza, Chelsea M. Wieland, Piper K. Wilber, Peyton S. Williams, and Gabrielle W. Wilson.
The 2019 Roving Eye International Film Festival is sponsored by The RI Film & the Television Office; Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival; WSBE Rhode Island PBS; Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, Edge Media Network, the Edwin S. Soforenko Foundation, RWU School of Humanities, Arts and Education, Dean Cynthia Scheinberg, RWU Department of Communication, Graphic Design and Web Development, Dr. Roxanne O’Connell, Department Chair, RWU Hillel, THE RWU HAWK'S HERALD, The RWU Musician’s Guild, The RWU Inter-Residence Hall Association (IRHA) and the RWU American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and the Spiritual Life Office.
All programming is free of charge and open to the public and screened on the campus of Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI.
TUESDAY, April 9th 5:00 p.m. Global Heritage Hall, Room 01
HOW WE SEE OURSELVES…
Documentary and Narrative Film Screenings with Director's Discussion
THE DRIVER IS RED | Directed by: Randall Christopher | 15 min. United States, 2017
An incredible true story of espionage, personal tragedy, and the triumph of justice.
THE CAREGIVER | Directed by: Ruthy Pribar | 12 min. Israel, 2018
Following a short trip to visit his family back in India, Raj returns to Israel and his work as caregiver
to an elderly man, only to be greeted by a Filipino woman who seems to have taken over his
job. When it becomes clear that the old man prefers a female presence around the house, Raj
must find a way to reclaim what he feels is rightfully his.
WILD | Directed by: Uriel Sinai | 60 min. Israel, 2018
The fine line between the Human World and the non-Human world is not drawn in harmony. The
Wild Animal Hospital is that line and when wild animals arrive there, they are usually broken,
poisoned or starving. This is a film about the small group of people that spend their life trying to
save those animals, while knowing that in many cases, the animals will not survive in the wild,
forcing the doctors and caretakers to make tough decisions.5:00 p.m.
Hosted by Rev. Nancy Hamlin Soukup, University Multifaith Chaplain, RWU
WEDNESDAY, April 10th:
5:00 p.m. Global Heritage Hall, Room 01 MEMORIES NEVER DIE
Documentary and Narrative Film Screenings with Director's Discussion
A WUNDER MEISSE | Directed by: Leila Fenton | 14 min. Israel, 2017
Two embroiled brothers meet again in the afterlife... and tested.
WIR SIND WIEDER DA - WE'RE BACK AGAIN |Directed by: Shirel Peleg | 8 min. Germany, 2018
The current generation is trying to live life surrounded by ruins of the past. WE'RE BACK AGAIN
depicts one exemplary situation the new generation of Jews experience when trying to build
new life in Germany.
IT HAPPENED AND TOOK PLACE RIGHT HERE. VOLKHARD KNIGGE AND BUCHENWALD | Directed by: Siegfried Ressel | 82 min. Germany, 2017
What kind of societal relevance does a memorial place of a former concentration camp have
72 years after the end of the war? The historian Volkhard Knigge has been the director of the
Buchenwald memorial foundation for the past 20 years. Time and again he reflects upon the
meaning and significance of this place of remembrance.
7:00 p.m. Global Heritage Hall, Room 01.
THE HAPPIEST MAN | Directed by: Jasmin Lord Gassmann | 55 min. Germany, 2017
“The Happiest Man“ tells the story of a personal journey. A 24-year old woman flies from 2
Germany to Sydney, Australia, to portrait the 94-year-old Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku, who
after more than thirty years of silence speaks to people from all walks of life about his
experience. By sharing his life story he transforms the pain of the past into joy and happiness and
teaches especially younger generations how happiness can be found, even in the darkest of
times.
Hosted by Rev. Nancy Soukup, Multifaith Chaplain
SUNDAY, April 14th:
5:00 p.m. Global Heritage Hall, Room 01
THE STORIES WE TELL. THE STORIES WE SHARE Documentary and Narrative Film Screenings with Director's Discussion
Hosted by Rev. Nancy Soukup, Multifaith Chaplain
COMPARTMENTS | Directed by: Daniella Koffler | 15 min. Germany, Israel, 2017
Netta, a young Israeli woman wishes to immigrate to Berlin. Her father, the son of Holocaust
survivors, is horrified by her decision to live in the land that killed her ancestors. He refuses to
speak to her again if she leaves. Based on Daniella Koffler’s personal story, 'Compartments' is the
first German-Israeli animation coproduction explores collective memories of the Holocaust in the
third generation, and how they shape both sides in ways we cannot predict.
PAT STEIR: ARTIST | Directed by: Veronica Gonzalez Peña | 80 min. USA, 2018
Although Pat Steir is best recognized for her mesmerizing dripped, splashed, and poured
“waterfall” paintings, which she developed in the late 1980s, she has been at the forefront of
American painting for decades, with an artistic practice that spans half a century.
In Pat Steir: Artist, Steir herself evokes her childhood in New Jersey, her young adulthood in NY,
and her deep friendships and alliances with the most groundbreaking artists and poets of her
generation, including her longterm partner, and founder of conceptual art, Sol Lewitt, the
legendary composer John Cage, the seminal painter, Agnes Martin, the great poet Anne
Waldman, and the groundbreaking French philosopher Sylvere Lotringer.
Pat Steir: Artist is a deeply intimate portrait of the artist by novelist/ filmmaker Veronica Gonzalez
Peña. Shot over the course of two and a half years, Gonzalez Peña has compiled over 30 hours
of deep and personal conversations with Steir. The warmth and closeness the women feel for
each other comes across clearly in this highly unique portrait of the great painter. Pat Steir: Artist
is a poetic visual exploration on creativity and process, on what it is to live an artistically
engaged life. Primarily shot in Steir’s home and studio, the film provides an intimate, profound,
and revelatory portrait of a groundbreaking female woman artist in her world.
Reception Follows at 3:45 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, Atrium
4:15 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, Room 01 at Roger Williams University
THE STORIES WE TELL. THE STORIES WE SHARE – PART II
Introduced by the Rev. Nancy Hamlin Soukup, University Multifaith Chaplain.
I HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOU | Directed by: Matan Rochlitz | 13 min. Italy, 2017
To escape Auschwitz, she left her father to die. Decades later, she got a message from him.
THE MAESTRO | Directed by: Adam Cushman | 94 min. USA, 2017
Starring: Xander Berkeley, Sarah Clarke, Mackenzie Astin, Bobby Campo and Jon Polito
Mentor to some of Hollywood’s most celebrated musical talents (Henry Mancini, Randy
Newman, Andre Previn), Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco composed music for over 200 films. He got
credit for 7. The Maestro explores Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s life through his relationship with his
student, Jerry Herst, a talented but insecure musician who struggles to make a career for himself
in post-war Hollywood.
Featuring a discussion with Andrew Lund, filmmaker/educator/entertainment lawyer.
About our Guest Speaker:
Andrew Lund, filmmaker and entertainment lawyer. Andrew is an Associate Professor and Director of the Integrated Media Arts MFA Program in the Film & Media Department at Hunter College of the City University of New York and a Faculty Associate at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute; he is also a faculty member of the Film Studies Department at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and has taught in the Graduate Film Division of Columbia University, where he received J.D., M.F.A. and B.A. degrees. “Brief Reunion,” a feature film that Andrew produced and co-edited, won the top prize for narrative filmmaking at the 2011 UFVA conference and the Audience Award for Best Film at New York’s 2011 Gotham International Film Festival. “My Last Day Without You,” on which Andrew served as executive producer, won the top producing honors at the 2011 Brooklyn International Film Festival and was released theatrically in Europe. Andrew is the Executive Producer of nine feature films, including “The Hungry Ghosts,” written and directed by Michael Imperioli; “Vanaja,” named by Roger Ebert as one of the top five foreign films of 2007, and “Arranged,” an international hit that Variety called “a pure pleasure to watch” Andrew has also written and directed five award winning short films. In addition to worldwide festival screenings and television broadcasts, his shorts are included in film textbooks, DVD compilations, and distributed theatrically and non-theatrically. Andrew founded and curates CinemaTalks, the independent film screening and discussion series, and he created the Short Film Repository, which houses educational extras that support short filmmaking. Andrew’s writing on film includes an essay, “What’s a Short Film, Really?” in “Swimming Upstream: A Lifesaving Guide to Short Film Distribution” by Sharon Badal, numerous book reviews for the journal, Film International, and two books on independent filmmaking in the works for Peter Lang Publishers.
For more information, contact the Spiritual Life Program at Roger Williams University, email nsoukup@rwu.edu. Directions to Roger Williams University can be found at www.rwu.edu
ABOUT ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY:
Roger Williams University located in Bristol, R.I. is a leading independent, coeducational university with programs in the liberal arts and the professions, where students become community- and globally-minded citizens. With 42 academic majors, an array of co-curricular activities and study abroad opportunities on six continents, RWU is an opencommunity dedicated to the success of students, commitment to a set of corevalues and providing a world-class education above all else. In the last decade, the University has achieved unprecedented successes including recognition as one of the best colleges in the nation by Forbes, a College of Distinction by Student Horizons, Inc. and as both a best college in the Northeast and one of the nation’s greenest universities by The Princeton Review. For more information, go to: www.rwu.edu.
ABOUT FLICKERS' RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:
The Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF), has secured its place in the global community as the portal for the best in international independent cinema, earning the respect of domestic and foreign filmmakers, filmgoers and trend watchers. Ranked as one of the top 10 Festivals in the United States, RIIFF is a qualifying festival for the Live Action, Documentary and Animation Short Academy Awards through its affiliation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Canadian Screen Awards, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). There are only 10 film festivals worldwide that share this distinction and RIIFF is the only festival in New England. The Festival takes place every August.
For more information about the Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, running Aug. 6-11, 2019 at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) and The Vets (formerly Veterans Memorial Auditorium), please visit call 401.861.4445.
RWU PARKING INFORMATION:From Providence: Take Routes 136 South or 114 S passing campus on the left. Take a left at the traffic light just before the Mount Hope Bridge, onto Old Ferry Road. Take the first right into the parking lot.
From Newport: Take 114N over the Mount Hope Bridge and take the first right off the bridge onto Old Ferry Road. Take the first right into the parking lot.
Guests should enter through the main entrance at the fountain. they will be able to obtain a guest parking pass. Lot 24a will be blocked off for guests of the festival. Proceed through the main entrance through to the lot 24a on left. Events will take place in the Feinstein College of Arts and Sciences Bldg, CAS 157; Global Heritage Hall and the Mary Tefft White Cultural Center.
The 2019 Roving Eye International Film Festival is sponsored by The RI Film & the Television Office; Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival; WSBE Rhode Island PBS; Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, Edge Media Network, the Edwin S. Soforenko Foundation, RWU School of Humanities, Arts and Education, Dean Cynthia Scheinberg, RWU Department of Communication, Graphic Design and Web Development, Dr. Roxanne O’Connell, Department Chair, RWU Hillel, THE RWU HAWK'S HERALD, The RWU Musician’s Guild, The RWU Inter-Residence Hall Association (IRHA) and the RWU American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and the Spiritual Life Office.
Andrew Lund, filmmaker and entertainment lawyer. Andrew is an Associate Professor and Director of the Integrated Media Arts MFA Program in the Film & Media Department at Hunter College of the City University of New York and a Faculty Associate at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute; he is also a faculty member of the Film Studies Department at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and has taught in the Graduate Film Division of Columbia University, where he received J.D., M.F.A. and B.A. degrees. “Brief Reunion,” a feature film that Andrew produced and co-edited, won the top prize for narrative filmmaking at the 2011 UFVA conference and the Audience Award for Best Film at New York’s 2011 Gotham International Film Festival. “My Last Day Without You,” on which Andrew served as executive producer, won the top producing honors at the 2011 Brooklyn International Film Festival and was released theatrically in Europe. Andrew is the Executive Producer of nine feature films, including “The Hungry Ghosts,” written and directed by Michael Imperioli; “Vanaja,” named by Roger Ebert as one of the top five foreign films of 2007, and “Arranged,” an international hit that Variety called “a pure pleasure to watch” Andrew has also written and directed five award winning short films. In addition to worldwide festival screenings and television broadcasts, his shorts are included in film textbooks, DVD compilations, and distributed theatrically and non-theatrically. Andrew founded and curates CinemaTalks, the independent film screening and discussion series, and he created the Short Film Repository, which houses educational extras that support short filmmaking. Andrew’s writing on film includes an essay, “What’s a Short Film, Really?” in “Swimming Upstream: A Lifesaving Guide to Short Film Distribution” by Sharon Badal, numerous book reviews for the journal, Film International, and two books on independent filmmaking in the works for Peter Lang Publishers.
