Jewish Film Festival

In case any locals are interested in coming with, I'm planning to go see a couple of the films that are in the Jewish Film Festival this weekend.

Tuesday, 7 PM, Sabes JCC
Hineini: Coming out in a Jewish High School
Blurb:
Hineini, Hebrew for “Here I am,” chronicles the story of one student’s courageous fight to establish a gay-straight alliance at a Jewish high school in the Boston area. Shulamit Izen enters ninth grade longing to connect more deeply with her Jewish faith while embracing her lesbian identity. This film depicts the transformative impact of her campaign on peers, teachers, administrators, and parents.

Wednesday, 7 PM, Hopkins Cinema 6
The Ritchie Boys
Blurb:
This fascinating documentary captures the little-known story of a group of young Jewish men who fled Nazi Europe later to return as soldiers in the US military. Trained as intelligence officers at top-secret Camp Ritchie in Maryland, they used their knowledge of enemy psychology and language to help liberate their former homelands. Not always courageous heroes, but determined and inventive, they fought and won their own kind of war. Powerful and entertaining, the film is fueled by the articulate and witty stories of ten surviving Ritchie Boys.

Tickets for each are $8. In case you're interested in what else is showing, the complete schedule is here. I'm also kind of interested in going to see Turn Left at the End of the World, but haven't decided if it's worth hustling out of work early to make it to it.

Mayday Parade - Pictures!

So I mentioned that I went to the Mayday Parade yesterday. The parade is an annual occurrence in South Minneapolis. It's always the first Sunday in May, and is put on by 'In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater', which has a theater space right in the neighborhood that the parade goes through. It starts north of Lake Street (I think at about 26th St), and goes down Bloomington to 33rd or 34th Street where it turns and winds into Powderhorn Park. The first notable thing about the parade is all the puppets, masks, and floats that are made out of papier-mache and which are all human propelled. Some are pushed, some are pulled, some are carried, and some are pedaled. Many of them are elaborate constructions of artwork. The second notable thing about the parade is that it is overtly political. South Minneapolis is really, really diverse and liberal, and the parade reflects both. I have no idea if the parade attracts many conservatives. I would think the puppets and masks would outweigh the political message, but ymmv.

This year the theme of the parade was water. There were 5 sections within the parade. Well, 6 if you count the pre-parade, and 7 if you count both the pre-parade and the free speech section (anyone can join in the free speech section, though they evidently charged an entree fee this year and didn't allow people to hand out flyers, stickers, etc., so that section was smaller than it's been in past years.) In any case, they hand out a newspaper explaining the five official sections of the parade.

( The pre-parade: modified bikes )

( Water )

( All life begins in water )

( Water Works )

( Are you thirsty? )

( One River, One Bowl, Two Hands, One Soul )

I didn't take very many pictures of the free speech section this year - because really, how exciting is it to see a picture of people carrying signs to impeach Bush, eat organic, or support Athiesm? I watched the parade with my parents, my brother-in-law notthatedburke, and Kiera (my younger niece). So I took the opportunity to take some pictures of Kiera (and my parents). ( Kiera )

After the parade, I walked to the park and hung out for a while there to watch the pageant that follows the parade. I also ate felafel, ran into lots of friends from various different social circles, ran into my one-time preschool teacher (I was surprised that she recognized me!), and eventually managed to rendezvous with my sister.

All of the pictures (including some I didn't post here) are in this flickr set. Also, notthatedburke posted his pictures, along with a much more concise summary of the parade here.