Fw: [Cz-L] Re: Andy Halmay's attitude to Czernowitz/Chernivtsi

In general, Mimi, I can't disagree with you. Our perceptions and attitudes are
complex and formed by a multitude of inputs, more, I would guess, by our
immediate environment, family, schoolmates and co-workers, than by the larger
community. Most communities and cities have no personality these days. The
larger the cities, the less they can be defined. Only in minuscule villages can

we find distinct character.

Some time back someone, probably Hardy, posted a snapshot of a goat herder with
a few goats coming up Herrengasse, whatever they call it now. If that shot had
been taken in Paris or London or even New York, I would have had a great laugh
but because it was in Cz, I shook my head sadly and said to myself, "That's what

it has come down to."

I can't even explain to myself this difference in attitude; perhaps because Cz
was part of my family and suddenly I run into a cousin who is reduced to a level

way beneath what I perceived the rest of us to have been at.

If you categorize Popovici as a product of Cz then you and I are also products
of Cz and yet we are all very different. His father was a priest who beat Traian

severely if he felt his son stepped out of line. Your father didn't beat you
and neither did mine me. Thus none of us can be perceived to be products of the
same community.

Many in Cz spoke only Yiddish at home and didn't learn Romanian before they
started school. My grandmother, while a wonderful and highly accomplished woman,

was a bit snobbish and set the tone for the rest of us. She spoke Hochdeutsch.
She considered Yiddish a dialect of the low classes and if and when a Yiddish
lilt entered my speech, I would be told, "Yiddle nicht." My first Yiddish
lessons came years later in New York from an Irish-German-American-Catholic who
had grown up in the Bronx and managed film and recording artists.

As for the film, in these days filled with fantasies from outer space and
digital effects that can have people on screen jump over buildings, looking
quite real, I decided to turn back to mankind's first form of communication,
people telling other people about their experiences.

The film will have a cynical, acid tongued, ex-Czernowitzer return for the
first time to attend the unveiling of a statue of Popovici. His family had
taken him away from Cz before the war broke out and he had had no knowledge of
what transpired there in the 70 years since leaving. He just now learns of
Popovici for the first time.

At the unveiling (which could take place in Romania or in Cz or in Israel) he
meets a few people he had known in infancy, he hears some horror stories and
some stories that warm the heart. He even gets a big surprise. He learns for
the first time about Yad Vashem which has recorded and honored over 22,000 folks

from 44 countries who like Popovici risked their lives and livelihood to
compulsively do good deeds in the worst of times. He flies to Jerusalem to walk

through the Yad Vashem museum and the experience dramatically changes him.

Hearing stories from survivors at a reunion of sorts will be far more effective
than casting an actor who may look a bit like Popovici and have him sit there
signing permits in little dramatizations. From a technical standpoint we can
film it anywhere and make it look credible.

I've decided against filming in Cz for practical, emotional and technical
reasons. They give you a hard time importing film equipment needed for
production. There are no suppliers of any sort for film equipment in Cz itself
which can be disastrous in emergencies. The closest town that would have
supplies is Kiev and when I queried the Ukrainian Film Commission they didn't
respond, which is the height of arrogance. Co-operation in Romania is far
better. We're going to have to shoot a few scenes in Los Angeles because some
of the performers I have in mind are over 90 and no longer able to travel great
distances.

We never see Popovici in the film. Only his statue. We hear much about him. That

may be far more effective than any attempt at dramatization. No one has ever
seen God but everybody has read about Him and been told about Him and millions
worship Him.

Hopefully, that gives you perspective. I am toying with an idea of having real
survivors, such as you, Mimi, mixed into the cast to ad lib about their own
experiences at a dinner after the unveiling ceremony. I'll leave that decision
to the director once we settle on one.

Best wishes,
Andy
________________________________
From: cornel fleming <cornel.fleming_at_virgin.net>
To: Miriam Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>; andy halmay <andy_venivici_at_yahoo.com>;

Czernowitz Genealogy and History <czernowitz-l_at_list.cornell.edu>
Sent: Mon, April 11, 2011 12:06:29 PM
Subject: RE: [Cz-L] Re: Andy Halmay's attitude to Czernowitz/Chernivtsi

Mimi.....Bravo!! Cornel

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Received on 2011-04-11 12:18:45