Well here at Notre Dame.

The school year is coming to an end, but we are not quite done with our films here and I'm so excited to have my friends with you.

It's good to see you again, Steve and Ricky, of course.

Good to see you.

You guys have a few more things to kind of wrap up this season before everyone has out the door.

We do.

We're on the last day of classes, but it's not the last day of films.

We got some still in the tank.

And just for the upcoming weekend, two that are of interest.

Professor Finkel, funder finally has summer break coming.

But before that, showing the surfing documentary from the 1960s, The Endless Summer, which has inspired hundreds and thousands of not only surfing surfers but fans of sports documentaries.

Oh, interesting.

And then we're closing with a very odd film, which we like to do at the end of the year, which was described as David Lynch's Eraserhead, Meet Zelda, and that's called Elba.

Okay.

And that's called opex.

It's about a guy getting sucked into like, a 1980s Mac computer game.

Are you serious?

I am like a Jumanji, like the new age Jumanji.

But like, think of King's Quest or like the old Atari games.

Okay?

Those are old stuff.

You know those?

That's a good one.

And when are those happening?

Because I know we're at the end of the season.

So Finkel funders still Sunday afternoons and then the rest are screens are at night.

And just a reminder, if parking is ever an issue after 5 p.m., our parking lot is open for everyone to use.

There's no cost and on the weekends as well.

But if you have any questions, if you google Deepak parking, we have a detailed list on how to get you here and get you well situated for whatever event you're.

That is super helpful.

And I know we also have accessible parking available outside too.

Of course.

Okay, perfect.

All right.

Now this is big, you guys.

Last year we were together for the 15th anniversary, 16 years now of the Michigan, a Jewish film festival.

This is an exciting time.

Tell me about how last year's went.

Just like every year, it was very well received by the audiences that attended.

Lots of dialog happening after the films between films.

People stay to chat and we love to see that happen.

We're grateful to the Barlow for partnering with us, offering their space, being very gracious with their space, and we're excited to move forward into our 16th season.

We have another great lineup.

I love it.

What was the intention, I think back 16 years ago?

What's the intention behind the film festival and bringing it here to South Bend?

We want to make our Jewish culture and history and these cinematic treasures available to the broader community.

That was the intent.

That was very intentional to partner with Notre Dame, to make this successful by the whole community.

Of course, our Jewish community loves coming on to campus and and the warmth of the theater and being among friends.

It's really about sharing and making sure that these stories are heard, and that we honor the filmmakers who are telling these stories.

And again, these are open to everyone.

So everyone is welcome here to come to the film festival, which is just wonderful.

And I know we've talked about this before too, but it's so reasonably priced for the tickets themselves to so you can come and enjoy the festival.

And it's multiple days we're talking.

Right.

Okay.

So when is the festival happening.

Because I know it's coming up soon, May 11th through the 14th.

This is the week after Mother's Day, Monday through Thursday.

There will be two films each night, so a double feature each night.

And again, guests are welcome to stick around in between films.

Enjoy if they prefer to bring some food along with them.

I know we're open to, you know, giving people every, every minute that they can they can have together to talk about the films, enjoy some some food and then stick around for the final.

I love it.

So if you forgot about your mom for Mother's Day, this is a great post Mother's Day.

Or maybe you give her tickets to it.

That's right.

And bring her.

So let's talk about the lineup for this year.

So we have eight different films showing this year.

Is that right?

Yeah, we have three documentaries.

We have a couple comedies, some really great drama features and a couple of short films as well.

Monday night begins with Maintenance Artists at 530.

This is a documentary about a New York artist from the 1970s, Merrill Youkilis, who combined art and action.

So her performance art was capturing everyday routine maintenance tasks.

Like.

Like the garbage truck.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

Or just cleaning house making, taking care of your kids.

She wanted to express these everyday actions as art, and it tells the story of her, her life and her life's work.

And it's really interesting.

She was a Jewish woman.

And again, we're talking about somebody whose art can be seen as something universal that, again, very accessible by everyone.

I love that.

All right.

And then what is the double feature portion of this one for Monday night?

So while I do want to mention that after the film, we have our opening night reception, which is being sponsored by the Simon Foundation of Temple Beth El.

So friends are welcome to stick around, have a little snack, have a little noche, and again discuss the film and love it and hopefully stick around for the second film, which, speaking of Mother's Day, this is a tribute to mothers.

It's called Once Upon My Mother, based on a true life story of a mother who took care of her son, who had clubfoot and gave him a life with dignity as he was growing up with this disability, her her testament to her child, making sure that he was treated no differently than the other kids in school.

Yeah.

And gave him that, that courage and that that tenacity to to proceed in his life and conquer his goals in life.

And it's told over many decades.

It's a wonderful drama film, a French film, and we're just pleased to share it.

And I know some of the films are in French, but there are subtitles available to.

Right?

That's right.

Okay, okay.

As always.

All right.

Let's head into Tuesday.

Yeah.

Tuesday starts at again 530.

I should mention that the second film, each night begins at 8 p.m.. Okay.

530, 30 and 8 p.m.. That's right.

The 4530 begins on Tuesday, May 12th with the road between us.

The ultimate rescue.

Which?

And this one's really interesting.

This is a documentary.

Yeah.

It's almost it's almost a thriller.

The way it's told about a rescue of one man's children and grandchildren.

On October 7th in Israel, during the Hamas invasion of the kibbutz in Israel.

And it's told, like, minute by minute, a recreation of of okay, of that entire day and almost like take in vibes from just going to say, yeah, it really helps give you a different perception of how events happen, especially when you can dive in from their perspective.

And we felt it was a very important story to share.

Again, a universal themes of of the human experience.

And what would you do in this situation if it was your family?

And that's what we want people to take away is, you know, put yourself in their shoes and experience that.

Okay, great.

And then what do we have coming up after that?

The second film on Tuesday is The Soundman, The Soundman, which is a Belgian film, just a great a true tribute to the power of of radio, the power of love.

It happens just on the the cusp of World War two and tells the story of a young actress, a young soundman in the iconic slate.

Is it the flag building in Belgium during World War Two?

This radio tower, as they are putting on performances overhead, the war planes are flying over and it's it's again, as as we look at different periods of time over, over the decades, this being World War two, it gives you an idea that there were personal, there were people experiencing love and heartbreak at the same time, that the world felt like it was crumbling around them.

And it's just a beautifully told film with just a wonderful sound design that I think will be a true experience in the DeBartolo and the Browning cinema, especially being able to do it here, I love that.

All right, let's head into Wednesday.

I'm really excited about the Ethan Bloom film because that really it combined the community right here on campus, right here on campus, a young Jewish boy who's just months away from his bar mitzvah has somewhat of a crisis of faith in that he is he wants to explore the Catholic faith in his community.

And it's it's a wonderful family comedy.

It has just a wonderful family drama.

Some some well-known actors, Joshua molina from The West Wing and just some other faces that you will recognize.

But the star is the child actor, and I think that it's a star turn for for this young man.

And it's just it's a great film that you can share with your younger maybe pre-teens.

Yeah, yeah.

And that's what I love about the film festival is we're getting to showcase films that haven't been seen before, bringing them right here to our community.

The floaters is another one that's coming up on Wednesday for the second part of the day.

That's right.

Yeah, that is a bit edgier for among among our variety of films, this one being a bit of an edgier comedy about Jewish summer camp, and one former camper who returns as a as a counselor, let's say.

So she returns to work with a group of teens who are the misfits of the camp.

I feel like many of us can relate to that.

And of course, she relates.

And during this, this time at camp, there's a big there's a big competition with another camp.

So they have to rise to the occasion.

They have to group together.

It's it's it shows the resilience, give it all the way of kids.

And when we trust kids, they rise to the occasion.

And it's it's just a great comedy about camp.

I love that now I know where we're almost running out of time, but Thursday is really special because for one of those features, you actually have the director who's going to be coming in to chat as well.

We do.

We're lucky we have.

So we have the two films.

We're going to start with the most Precious of cargoes, which is Michel Hazanavicius film.

People might know him.

He made the artist that won Best Picture of Olga, he won Best director.

So it's an animated film again, very gorgeous and just a very compelling story about children and their and their kind of inherent virtues, as well as a hybrid documentary.

So a documentary with some magical realism notes, which sounds very intriguing.

Yeah.

Which is the second film called The Neighbors.

And the director, Yoav Potash, will be zooming in and being in conversation.

So it's great to hear someone who not only knows the story inside and out, it's about murders that are occurring after World War Two in Poland.

But not only be able to tell that story about how he came to such an intriguing and interesting way to have those stories revitalized now, you know, almost a century after the fact.

Start getting your questions ready for that.

Where can people get their tickets at Performing Arts?

You.

If you google Michiana Jewish Film Festival, you will find everything you need online.

And one quick note yes, in July, the very popular and oversubscribed summer film school, which is for all ages, where we come and we learn some really basic components of how films are made and what they're about, will be coming back.

So if people monitor the website for that sells out, probably too, right?

It does.

So get your alerts and be watching for that.

And that will be coming after the 4th of July.

All right.

Perfect.

Thank you guys so much.

Thank you.