Emmy-Winning Producer Scott Goldstein Special Guest at Film Festival Event

Patrons of the 13th annual Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival enjoyed a special evening featuring renowned producer Scott Goldstein, who talked about his film Where I Stand: The Hank Greenspun Story at the in West Bloomfield Thursday night.

Goldstein’s 2008 documentary, which will be shown at 5 p.m. Sunday at the , portrays the colorful life of Hank Greenspun, former publisher of the Las Vegas Sun, whose adventurous past included running arms for the Israeli army, publicly denouncing Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and working briefly for the notorious gangster Bugsy Siegel.  

The JCC's Handelman Hall was filled with film festival patrons who came to hear Goldstein, who is an award-winning producer of shows such as Today, Doogie Howser, M.D., and the hit TV series L.A. Law, for which he won two Emmys.

Goldstein was joined on the podium by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter M. L. Elrick of the Detroit Free Press to discuss the current state of the newspaper business in the face of burgeoning of online news sources. Both speakers expressed hope that a place will remain for hard-hitting journalists such as Greenspun, who put his commitment to truth before his personal safety or reputation.

Goldstein praised Elrick for his work on the investigative reporting team that exposed the corruption of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

“We’re all going to be poorer if we don’t have a press that’s a guardian of our society,” said Goldstein.

Goldstein said he chose the Detroit area for his film’s last festival showing because he believes the city has a lot to offer and that the knocks it has received are undeserved.

“Detroit has been dealt with as a basket case, and it’s not true,” he said.

Before heading home to California, Goldstein plans to listen to jazz in some of the area’s popular night spots, see a Tigers game at Comerica Park, and take a lot of photos.

Ann Abrams of West Bloomfield said she had never heard of Greenspun before and is looking forward to seeing the film. Dr. John Kamholz of Grosse Pointe agreed.

“That was very interesting,” he said. “We’re definitely going to see the movie.”

After the Where I Stand screening on Sunday, Goldstein will speak to the audience and answer questions.  

More than 40 other films from throughout the world will be featured at the festival, which runs through Thursday, May 26. The films encompass a variety of subjects, languages, and genres including comedies, documentaries, dramas, and short features.

Some of the highlights of the lineup include:

• Holy Rollers, a true story about a group of observant Jews who get caught up in drug smuggling, starring Jesse Eisenberg of The Social Network and West Bloomfield native Justin Bartha.
• Keeping up with the Steins, a funny family film about a bar mitzvah party to end all parties, starring Daryl Hannah, Jeremy Piven, and Miranda Cosgrove.
• FLIPCLIPS, a program of short films produced by local teens under the guidance of award-winning filmmakers Sue Marx and Allyson Flint Rockwell.
• Winston Churchill: Walking with Destiny, a documentary about one of history’s most brilliant politicians, narrated by Ben Kingsley.
• In addition to the Berman Center, which will serve as the new permanent home for the festival, films will be shown at the in Birmingham, The Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor, the Flint Institute of Arts, Celebration! Cinema Crossroads Portage in Kalamazoo, Oakland University in Rochester, and Wayne State University in Detroit.

For ticket information and a complete schedule go to jccdet.org or call 248-661-1900.