Good news! Jewish film fest changes not in response to threats

This is good to know. After a lot of speculation in light of world events, the 21st edition of the Windsor Jewish Film Festival has not changed its dates or venue due to any threats or security reasons but simply for decisions that it made on its own. The event is usually held mid-Spring but now will run June 17-20. The venue was also changed from its longtime home at Devonshire Mall to downtown’s Capitol Theatre. WJFF programmer Joe Schnayer said it was “time to mix things up” with a new location. “The Capitol brings a new energy, a new ambience and showcases downtown Windsor with lots of great restaurants and attractions nearby.” The change in dates is only because the Capitol, city-owned and operated by the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, is a busy venue and these were the next closest dates available. “The Capitol Theatre had several other events in the months of April and May (when we usually have our festival) so June was the best option for our festival this year,” he said. But, in light of the Israel-Hamas War and now the attack by Iran on the Jewish state, Schnayer said there will be extra security. “To ensure the safety of our guests and volunteers, the Windsor Jewish Film Festival will have a greater security presence than we have had in the past including a police presence throughout the festival.” Despite threats elsewhere such as in Vancouver and Hamilton “very few cities actually cancelled their festivals,” Schnayer said. “A few have postponed and Hamilton had to move to a different venue but very few have cancelled altogether.” He said the festival will continue as a public event. “It is important to our festival and our community that we continue to share Jewish culture and history, regardless of external factors.” Schnayer said 10 films will be on tap from North America, Europe and Asia.

I finally watch The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973), one of the two most seminal popular horror films coming out of the poist-0war new Hollywood, the other being Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, which I also have never seen. Scary? A couple of moments, after which when I turned on a hall light after a bathroom break, for good measure. But the actual horror part of the film took a lot of building up to get there. Otherwise, we see scenes of a quotidian world where actress Chris MacNeil (a very young Ellen Burstyn – she’s now 91!) goes about her life in Georgetown DC. I’d forgotten Bergman’s preeminent actor Max von Sydow as Father Merrin, the all-seeing Catholic priest, has the titular role. The tumult in daughter Regan’s (Linda Blair) bedroom looked pretty real. But I still wonder why movies can’t get fake blood - looking all too much like tomato ketchup – right……The next night I watch an entirely different film by the same director, Deal of the Century (1983) starring Chevy Chase, Gregory Hines and Sigourney Weaver, a comedy about an incompetent arms dealer (Chase) who stumbles upon, well, the arms deal of the century. It’s a send-up of the international arms trade and would make a good pairing with Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964). And while I laughed along, in light of what’s going on in the Middle East right now, I also in part doubted the film’s message. Without that triple layer of Israeli defense, backed by US and Arab allies, last night, Israel would have been utterly devastated today by Iranian missiles and drones today.