Date: Feb 14, 2011
Contact: Carol Connelly, Director, Media & Communication Services, ext. 5267, cconnelly@pnc.edu

PNC, Partners Presents Jewish Film Festival

WESTVILLE – Purdue University North Central Odyssey 2010 – 11 Arts and Cultural Events Series, with the Michigan City Public Library and the Irving Levin Jewish Cultural Fund of Sinai Temple, will present a Jewish Film Festival on Sunday, March 13 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Michigan City Public Library. The films feature differing topics that look at various aspects of life from different perspectives and subjects.

The film festival is free and open to the public. Coffee klatch refreshments will be served.

“For My Father” has been nominated for seven Israeli Academy Awards. It earned the Audience Award as best film at the Moscow International Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Cinequest Film Festival. It is rated R. The dialog is Hebrew with English subtitles.

The film tells the story of Tarek, a Palestinian who has been forced on a suicide mission to redeem his father's honor. However, when he is in Tel Aviv and attempts to detonate his explosive vest, something goes wrong. There is no explosion. Something malfunctioned. Now Tarek is forced to spend 48 hours in the city with the explosives strapped to his body while he awaits repair.

While in Tel Aviv, he meets several Israelis, including Keren, a beautiful young woman who has isolated herself from her Orthodox family. To his surprise, an unlikely love begins to grow between the two and he begins to discover a spark returning to his soul. By the end of the weekend, Tarek must make the decision of his life.

“Holy Land Hardball” is an engaging story of Boston bagel maker Larry Baras and his dream to bring professional baseball to the Middle East. When Baras brought up the idea of creating a league in Israel, his idea was met with skepticism, dismissal and even, hostility. Undaunted, he decided to try it anyway.

He found some ballplayers: a 41-year-old father of three with a Peter Pan complex; a 27-year-old Brooklyn artist disappointed after not being drafted by a professional team out of college; a 34-year-old father-to-be whose deceased father fought for Israel's independence in 1948; and a 22-year-old African-American who was told by a preacher he would one day "play in front of God's people." Potential team managers in the Israel Baseball League were former Jewish major leaguers Art Shamsky, Ken Holtzman and Ron Blomberg.

The Purdue University North Central Odyssey Arts Series features events throughout the year. A schedule can be found at www.pnc.edu . For more information about this film, or any event in the Odyssey series, contact Judy Jacobi, assistant vice chancellor of Marketing and Campus Relations at 785-5200,ext. 5593. Persons with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Jacobi.

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