With Its Silver Jubilee, Atlanta Jewish Film Festival Includes Olympic History and International Treats

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival's 2025 edition is underway. 

Celebrating 25 years, AJFF presents 50 films including 28 narrative works and 22 documentaries. 

"This year's lineup not only highlights stories that resonate deeply with Jewish life but also redefines what it means to be a 'Jewish' film," said AJFF Executive and Artistic Director Kenny Blank in the festival's announcement press release. "It's all about the intersection of Jewish experiences with the broader world, creating space for meaningful dialogue and connection between communities."

A small army of AJFF Evaluation Committee volunteers screened hundreds of submissions (600+) to create this year's schedule of competing and special screening films. 

I was inspired to volunteer with AJFF many years ago after the organization hosted multiple five-ringed titles including "Berlin 36" during the 2011 festival, the same year as the 30th anniversary screening of "Chariots of Fire" which enabled a sit-down interview with director Hugh Hudson. 

Here's what caught my eye as "must experience" titles and subjects for AJFF 2025 (with venues and dates/times in parenthesis for ticketing -- the titles are hyperlinked to available trailers):

"Riefenstahl" (Springs Cinema & Taphouse on 23 Feb.) joins the cannon of documentary films on the famed German actor-turned-director Leni R, whose propaganda epic "Olympia" -- capturing the first torch relay and most of the 1936 Berlin venues and athletes -- premiered on Hitler's 49th birthday and set the gold standard for Games-related filmmaking. 

But for the first time, director Andres Veiel enjoyed access to the entire Riefenstahl archive, including an array of Leni-censored footage she hid while spending decades trying to build her own legacy while attempting to distance herself from obvious Nazi sympathies of her early career. 

This new doc presents original and outstanding visuals, such as first-to-my-eyes use of R's original reels, to present that archive while exposing new info enabling all to edit their own Leni POV.

"Come Closer" (Springs Cinema & Taphouse on 22 Feb.) is among the best films I've seen since the Covid pandemic. 

At its core is Eden, a troubled/co-dependent Tel Aviv twentysomething grieving the sudden loss of her closest confidant/brother. When his unmentioned girlfriend Maya attends the funeral, both young women embark on a journey of remembrance and love, heartbreak and healing. 

Their eventual beach getaway filled me with wanderlust for eventually visiting the sea-meets-mountains Israeli coast, which closely resembles a previously visited Mediterranean favorite, Antalya, Turkey. Bring tissues to view this film which earned 12 Israeli Academy Award nominations, winning best director (Tom Nesher, who will attend the AJFF event) and best picture. 

"Charles Grodin: Rebel with a Cause" (Tara Theatre on 2 March) details the comedian-actor's filmography while spotlighting his run as CNBC talk show host who championed an array of important causes. I loved this film for its mix of laughs and touching, new-to-me notes from Grodin's storied career (his bit for "The Woman In Red" still cracks me up). 

Other films I have yet to see but piqued my interest for a media ticket (thanks, AJFF Media Relations team) include:

"Diane Warren: Relentless" (Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center on 2 March) regarding the Grammy, Emmy, Golden Globe and special Academy Award winning songwriter hits including "Because You Loved Me" with Celine Dion and David Foster from "Up Close and Personal" and Starship's "Mannequin" hit "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now." 

The trailer includes everyone from Cher and Aerosmith to Common, Leann Rimes and Gloria Estefan, with whom she wrote the Atlanta Olympic anthem "Reach."

• "Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse" (Plaza Theatre on 22 Feb.)
• "Tatami" (Plaza Theatre on 23 Feb.)
• "ADA - My Mother the Architect" (Springs Cinema & Taphouse on 23 Feb.)
• "Plunderer: The Life and Times of a Nazi Art Thief" (Tara Theatre on 4 March)
• "The Spoils" (Springs Cinema & Taphouse on 24 Feb.)
• "Full Support (Springs Cinema & Taphouse on 23 Feb.)

For those outside Atlanta, AJFF offers streaming ticket options for most titles on March 7-16. Check out AJFF.org for rates, dates and other details. 

Image credits: AJFF, Lothar Ruebelt/Getty Images, United King Films, Orion Pictures, Drexler Films

Hampered by Prolonged Rollout, 'September 5' Presents Riveting Drama of Munich '72 Attack

Critics wrote heaps of praise for Tim Fehlbaum's film "September 5."

For this viewer -- a 1973-born "Munich Olympic Baby" who's been studying the city's 1972 massacre as a journalism undergrad and Games historian during 30 years since college -- the film proved excellent, on par with its predecessors "Munich" by Stephen Spielberg and Kevin Macdonald's outstanding documentary "One Day In September" (on their own merits all three works are "must see"). 

A major asset is Fehlbaum's new perspective on the terrorist attack portrayed through the ABC Sports control room operated adjacent to the scene of the crime: 31 Connollystrasse in the Olympic Village, an apartment built above the road and esplanade named for the first modern Olympic champion. 

Another strength: Whether the hostages' fate is already known, or moviegoers are naive to Jim McKay's unscripted punctuation on the Olympic Family's saddest day ("They're all gone"), all "September 5" viewers seemed captivated by the gripping drama in real life story that takes little time to build tension. 

Before sunrise on Day 11 of Heitere Spiele ("The Cheerful Games"), TV producer Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro) arrives to prepare for another long shift of sports coverage. After viewers learn the studio layout and a few of its players -- such as legend-in-the-making Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) and composite characters like a German-English-Hebrew interpreter Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch) -- a pin drop could be heard once gunfire emerges from the neighboring Olympic Village. What follows is a mostly accurate though condensed unfurling of Mason & Company navigating what became the world's first live broadcast of a terrorist attack. 

"September 5" succeeds in sticking to the true story, with minimal detours of creative license. It's forgivable, for instance, that in a lighter moment the control room tracks their disguised-as-Olympian colleague talking his way into the athlete village as seen from their Volkswagen Beetle-sized camera atop Munich's Olympic Tower (about a half mile away). 

More preposterous but laughable: guns drawn Munich polizei storming the broadcast center, prompting Arledge to exclaim "Get the fuck out of my studio!" 

The only other noticeable fiction involved the screenwriter paraphrasing IOC President Avery Brundage with his statement "the Games must go on" a day early (in real life, this quote was delivered the next day at the Munich Olympic Stadium memorial service for the lost Team Israel members). 

Viewers will appreciate the authentic Munich posters, accreditation mockups, team uniforms and other tuned-to-detail touches thanks to the methodical work of costume and set designers who also used actual equipment of 1972 -- from rotary phones and Rolodexes to vintage TV studio monitors and cameras -- to painstakingly create the broadcast set and Arledge's temporary offices. 

The soundtrack gives a nod to previous Munich-centric films with Apollo 100's "Jesu Joy" setting the early-70's tone just like in Macdonald's documentary. There's lots to love about German composer Lorenz Dangel's techno-centered score, with the strings of "Helicopters" played as Howard Cosell defines "shalom" for nearly a billion TV viewers, each note foreshadowing Team Israel's fate at Furstenfeldbruck. 

Another favorite line quipped in response to Mason's team instructions: "You got it, Kubrick!" 

The best unexpected surprise of "September 5" is that, unlike Spielberg and Macdonald, Fehlbaum does not cut off McKay after famously uttering "they're all gone." For the first time in over 30 years of studying this global event, we learn what else McKay had to say after "our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized."

"They're all gone. It's all over. The Israeli Olympic Team is destroyed, much of it. But what will happen to the Games of the XXth Olympiad? None of us know what will happen ... to the course of world history."

For all the film's strengths, Paramount's promotion and release plan proved to be a disappointing head-scratcher. 

After securing distribution last fall and setting limited release in New York and LA during November, according to industry reports, the studio pushed back wider release to December then January, then again when the locked-in mid-January date finally arrived. 

Frustrated by a lack of answers from Paramount's unresponsive national media relations team and vague responses from more local reps when asked "where is this film actually screening?" (as it was nowhere near Atlanta), I reached out to two New York Times reporters who replied with related insights.

Lead critic Manohla Dargis, who scribed The Times' Critics Pick praise of the film, stated distribution wasn't her bag while offering the Oscar factor was likely in play.

"Once the nominations are announced [viewers] should have some clarity on the release," she said. "I hope that you can see it in a theater."

Fortunately, by that time, I had seen it at a special preview screening, but friends in places low and high were still asking "where is September 5?"

Dargis' West coast colleague Brooks Barnes, for which film distribution is his bag/beat, seconded the Oscar timing theory while adding that some recent flubs and failures of other Paramount releases, combined with an array of recent or upcoming corporate changes, may have been in play, or they just didn't know what to do with the topics the film presents. At least my misery was in good company for lack of response from Paramount PR.

"I sent a query, and if I get an answer, I'll let you know," wrote Barnes. 

Not surprisingly, that was the end of that. 

Even with an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay, within a week of its very limited nationwide release, Paramount perplexingly pulled the critically acclaimed film out of the few U.S. theaters that had it, later rushing it to streaming by early February. 

Paramount's team apparently was so unsure what to do with "September 5" they didn't even add it to their own Paramount + service. 

My grade of their distribution plan: D minus. 

And the question emerges: To what extent was this wutend oder enttauscht for Fehlbaum?

"September 5" is worth the search and price to view it where it is available -- as of this mid-February post, Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Plex, Prime Video and Row8 have the film streaming in the $9.99 to $19.99 range. Watch it. 

And if you're lucky enough to find it on the big screen, take it from Dargis' advice and get thee to the cinema. 

Images via Paramount's "September 5" press materials

Giants and Georgia O'Keeffe Elevate Atlanta's High

My Paris summer was a lot of things, from amazing in terms of five-ringed and French encounters to profound for life experiences while restoring faith in many aspects of the Olympic Family, a welcome change after Rio challenges and Tokyo's pandemic left me dismayed. 

 

With an abundance of stories to share, including two drafted but unpublished posts from the final days of the torch relay and the dazzling albeit drizzly opening ceremony (and hundreds of photos and Paris 2024 micro-moment impressions to share), I've struggled to decide how to get back to blogging, procrastinating around real-life and client work since August. 

That stops now with notes on two fresh fine art exhibitions underway at Atlanta's High Museum of Art, which kindly hosted me for media previews for both options.

The must-see, worth airfare and a sleepover show "Georgia O'Keeffe: 'My New Yorks'" (through Feb. 16) gave me goosebumps. 

First arranged and unveiled at the Chicago Art Institute, the exhibition features around 100 works, including several longtime favorites by the Wisconsin-born multimedia artist as well as several "new to my eyes" works from private collections or remote museums not yet experienced. 

"This exhibition offers the wonderful opportunity to highlight this important but perhaps unrecognized period of O'Keeffe's artistic life and demonstrate how [works] exemplify her innovation as a Modernist," said High Director Rand Suffolk. 

Showstopping works include:

• Taos Pueblo, which vividly captures the New Mexico destination circa 1929, on loan from the Eiteljorg Museum of Indianapolis

• Radiator Building-Night, New York, with all its radiant shades of blue, first experienced in its home gallery Crystal Bridges of Bentonville, Ark.
  

• A Celebration, at right, featuring all the clouds about which Jonie Mitchell sang, from Seattle Art Museum

• The Shelton With Sunspots, inserted atop this blog post, featuring O'Keeffe's home and studio address atop Manhattan from which many other urban works originated, here from Chicago Art Institute

• Abstract nature scenes via From The Lake No. 1 and From The Lake No. 3 from the Des Moines Art Center and Philadelphia Museum of Art, respectively

• The massive (seven feet tall) canvas Manhattan with a Rockefeller Center-like ivory tower affixed with pink, red and lilac roses in town from the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington (don't miss the delicate pencil and ink artist sketch also on view nearby)

The exhibition's rich catalog from Yale University Press, edited by Chicago Arts Institute colleagues Sarah Kelly Ohler and Annelise K. Madsen, includes essays that detail O'Keeffe's daily life in Manhattan with a skyscraper vantage point. 

Trust me, you'll thank yourself for making time to view this exhibition. 

Meanwhile, also on view through Jan. 19 the High presents "Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys." 

Like the O'Keeffe gathering, this private collection presentation -- on its only Southeast stop after debuting at the Brooklyn Museum -- features about 100 works. 

Standout works include Kehinde Wiley's floor-to-ceiling portraits of the collection's namesake owners, coastal views by Barkley L Hendricks, an untitled work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, and several photos by Gordon Parks, including multiple portraits of Muhammad Ali only a few years after his Olympic feats at Rome 196o. 

Another set of monumental canvases titled "A Puzzled Revolution" by Titus Kaphar blends likenesses of Ali's knockout of Sonny Liston with riffs from other icons like the nautical crew in "Watson and the Shark." 

Across the room, be sure to spend time with "You Shouldn't Be the Prisoner of Your Own Ideas" featuring a quilt-like assemblage of used jail uniforms arranged by Hank Willis Thomas. 

And around another corner, there's a small batch of BMX bikes (a reminder of their recent addition to the Paris Olympic cycling competition) and music studio production equipment. Word!

The final gallery also features four large portraits of dancers or gymnasts resembling Simone Biles, with the exhibit bookended by another giant -- the collection's largest -- Wiley canvas. 

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Meeting President Emmanuel Macron

It was the best of selfies, it was the worst of selfies. 

Presidential ones, that is. 

On Monday (22 July), French President Emmanuel Macron joined IOC President Thomas Bach in welcoming over 200 international (non-French) journalists to Palais de l'Élysée, akin to The White House on this side of the Atlantic. 

With thanks to Jill Jaracz of Keep The Flame Alive podcast, who posted to Instagram a photo of her arrival at said palace about an hour before the event (just in the nick of time), I was reminded, "Oh, that's today" (!!!) while seated in boxer shorts at my hotel, prompting a rush to get dressed and make way to the venue. 

The official invitation from Macron's staff went out last week to journalists of Paris Media Centre, the "unaccredited media center" for this Olympiad. Though my badge is still in review, my AIPS press card and a passport were enough to register. And after a short metro ride and four layers of security, we were inside the Elysee awaiting Macron's arrival. 

As reporters mingled, I caught up with USA Today's Christine Brennan, longtime friends Ed and Sheila Hula (founders of Around The Rings) and reporters from the Team USA Media Summit in town from the LA Times, Sports Business Journal, NBC and others. 

It was fun to swap pins with the press lead from Team Ukraine, a TV reporter from New Zealand's Sky network, and several Korean and Japanese reporters more obviously in the pin game.  

Around many corners of the ballroom in which we gathered (reminiscent of the East Wing dance hall in Washington), meters-long tables of gourmet coffees, French wine, exotic local cheeses, Olympic-tailored bread and a smorgasbord of meats and fresh fruit from across the nation were assembled by toque-donning chefs. 

And voila! Macron arrived accompanied by a military symphony and Bach as well as Paris 2024's CEO, speaking for several minutes about the shared journey to the eve of the XXXIIIth Olympiad. Here are some President Macron's remarks:

Remarks complete, Bach made a beeline for the sortie, briefly stopping to shake hands and chat with Brennan and moi (I asked the wherabouts of one of my clients to which Bach replied with surprise). 

Meanwhile, Macron -- much to the delight of the attendees -- stayed in the ballroom, working the crowd answering softball questions, posing for selfies and introducing the First Lady to a few VIPs.

By the time the impromptu receiving line reached my spot, we were in the garden and Keep The Flame Alive podcaster Jill and I swapped photo duties to capture the moment (thank goodness as my own selfie attempt was marred by the wind).

Shaking hands with President Macron -- whose grip is quite strong and confident -- I first thanked him for his team's marvelous hospitality, complimented his remarks and wished all of France great success with what is already turning out to be among the best Games ever. 

"Merci beaucoup!" 

This next part surprised me in that when another journalist interrupted the end of our handshake, Macron did not let go of my hand for about 20 seconds, insisting it was first my turn to finish the conversation and photo. 

Point, smile (or in my case keep talking), snap and the moment was complete, leaving Jill and I time to finally enjoy some drinks and catering in the garden, cheerfully toasting "To all the bullshit!" that got us to Paris.

Exiting the French palace, I snapped one last photo of what may be a presidential Citroen. So fancy! Nice touch.

Meeting Macron was definitely more personal than interactions with V.P. and candidate-turned-President Biden or Vladimir Putin, in 2010 and 2014, respectively. 

What will happen next?

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Born To Skate

One of my favorite Olympic observations took place at Beijing 2008, not far from the Main Press Center and Water Cube. 

Dozens of pin collectors -- some veteran, others new to the hobby -- were viewing one another's boards of trading material.

A Chinese collector took notice of a 1970s throwaway pin I offered, featuring the words "Born to Skate" (likely a roller-skating reference). 

"What is skate?"

This memory came to mind yesterday as a trio of Team USA skateboarders -- Poe Pinson, Paige Heyn and returning Olympian Mariah Duran, exited the Paris Olympic Village to head out for an afternoon skate about Paris. 

Before they set out, I caught up to Pinson and Duran and quizzed them about their arrival at the Village, which turned out to be two days ago (18 July). 

Though lowkey (perhaps day two of jetlag), they were positive about the entire experience, with Heyn joining the conversation to mention she looked forward to visiting the athlete hair and nail salon -- the main Village feature about which she had heard -- at some point before the opening ceremony. 

With several local French children and kids from neighboring apartment blocks surrounding us, all three Olympians started handing out free swag, including skateboard pins and some Tech Deck miniature plastic boards.

"J'aime le Etats-Unis!" 

And then they were off -- the trio of skaters set out on what turned into a 2.5-hour ride (I spotted their return from the corner of an eye but did not speak with them again). 

Other observations du jour: A large batch of Dutch athletes (two busloads) though my Olympic crush Femke Bol was not among them (a Team NL official mentioned she'd arrive later), Team Mexico unveiled what may be their Opening Ceremonies sombreros (much to the delight of the local kids who got to wear them), and some trading with volunteers or staff from the International Olympic Committee, Intel and NOCs from Aruba, Montenegro, Team GB and others. 

Best moment: Conversation with Venezuela's two-time judo Olympian Anriquelis Barrios, who completed interviews with AFP and me before gifting a Team Venezuela pin in exchange for a blog pin (both featuring the Paris mascot). 

Just another day at the Olympic Village.

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Village of the World -- First Visit

Back in 1996, a couple of colleagues with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) international relations team composed an original song -- "Village of the World" -- in which almost 200 national Olympic committees got mention in the lyrics.

I hummed this tune while approaching what turned out to be the worker entrance at Paris Olympic Village, the new home of over 10,000 athletes, which opened to competitor residents on 18 July.

My missions du jour: Check out the guest pass process, and trade pins. 

There were lots of pins. 

After trading with several volunteers and Olympic Village workforce members during what seemed to be a shift change, I walked away the happy owner of several new items, including a heart-shaped International Olympic Committee pin given to volunteers earlier in the day, German and Brazil team pins and a few of the new U.S. half-dollar-sized Samsung Rendezvous pins. 

Upon arrival at the separate Village transportation area, with a much larger athlete presence, I wasted no time capturing the arrival of the Refugee Olympic Team bus, also speaking with several athletes (three pin exchanges). 

The vibe at the transport area among dozens of security, volunteers, NOC officials and athletes was a mix of glee, nervous anticipation (the good kind), a little stress (do I have all of my bags?) and a lot of smiles and hugs. 

When the Fiji Olympians arrived, it made me chuckle that each athlete brought their own case of water from their homeland sponsor (you know ... the expensive Fiji Water bottles like at Whole Foods Market). 

Other NOC interactions included Australia, Canada, St. Lucia, Liechtenstein, Argentina, Norway, France and, of course, Team USA, who had two full-time staffers on site awaiting a critical luggage and supply delivery truck. 

Another eager attendee was a photojournalist for Kyodo News, who was relieved to get his money shots of Team Japan disembarking from their bus as Paris 2024 volunteers helped load airport-style Village-branded luggage carts. 

Perhaps the best pin discoveries: Andorra has a really nice jumbo design, and the Peru Olympic Volunteers got creative with their oversized design, using a globe-spinning mascot image I almost picked for one of my Olympic Rings And Other Things pins. 

Never did find the guest pass area, but learned this morning it's just around the corner from the transport zone -- will endeavor to explore yet another Village entry in the days ahead.

Another curiosity of the Olympic Village was its proximity to dozens of neighboring apartment buildings. 

In the quiet times between pin trades, I spoke with several local residents who revealed a mix of good cheer to live so close to "the action" juxtaposed with "can't we just get this over with" sentiment (one resident was particularly cranky his carpark access had some hiccups). 

Looking forward to the next Village visit. Meanwhile, today's task: Paris Media Centre.

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Musée Rodin and its Five-Ringed Connections

My expectations were simple for a premier visit to Musée Rodin, one of Paris' main museums skipped during prior travels. 

What a treat! 

Nestled a couple of blocks from Invalides -- the 2024 Olympic archery venue -- and the Museum of the Army in the 7th Arrondissement, the museum of Auguste Rodin blends with its neighbors on the exterior while unveiling a grand garden and main building (the sculptor's later-years Hôtel Biron residence of about 116 years ago). 

Of course, the sculptures impress. It was fun, albeit unplanned, to view Rodin's sketches, ceramic models or miniatures for many of his famed works while discovering dozens of new-to-my-eyes concepts, then touring the museum gardens to find the magnificent, and at times monumental, Rodin casts in bronze. 

I knew not that one of his first major works, as a teen, featured a bust of his father, now on view with portraits or other portrayals of family members. 

There were also reminders of works seen at the largest U.S. museums dedicated to Rodin, including venues in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Kansas City and Atlanta's High Museum of Art, home to a gifted sculpture "The Shade" presented by the French Republic to the City of Atlanta as a memorial to arts patrons lost at Orly Field.

Speaking of "The Shade," it was new-to-me info there are multiple Rodin figures by this title, with trios of Shade figures in the galleries, garden and atop a massive portal the artist fashioned with additional accoutrement. 

There are nudes around many corners, including some not-for-kids poses like "Iris, Messenger of the Gods" (previously noted in this October 2022 post also summarizing Rodin past Olympic connections). 

Special for the 2024 Cultural Olympiad, Musée Rodin added content and works of Rodin's partner of 10 years, Camille Claudel, whose dramatic 1897 onyx and bronze work "The Wave" seemingly splashes/crashes from its display (the work is described as Claudel's major break from Rodin not long after she left him).

The best surprise was discovering several paintings by Rodin contemporaries, collected through friendship or investment. Most impressive: Large canvases by Edward Munch, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Vincent Van Gogh. 

Another discovery: Rodin's personal collection of hundreds of artifacts from ancient civilizations, with many figures of antiquity serving as inspiration for his own work. 

An upstairs corridor showcased a 2023 sculpture, apparently designed and assembled by 12 apprentice sculptors, titled "The Flame of Culture" inspired by the Olympic torch relay traditions. 

Exiting through the gift shop, two items caught my eye: a miniature version of "The Kiss" in its own wood crate (these miniatures were not available when this work was on view at the "Rings: Five Passions in World Art" exhibit of the 1996 Cultural Olympiad in Atlanta), as well as a clever pin design inspired by "The Thinker."

I was also captivated by a tin and brass broach pin design, described by the gift shop manager as "piano hands" (it was not clear if this is a Rodin work but likely is). For over 100 Euros, it was time to stop the music and settle with a few postcards. 

Methinks my wallet may be even emptier by Games end.

The Musee Rodin has special hours planned during Paris 2024 -- whether you're in town for the Olympics or a future City of Light excursion, do yourself a favor and make time to discover this Parisian treasure. 

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver