WHITE MOUNTAIN JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL PREMIER FEATURES FILM, FOOD AND FAMILY JULY 7

White Mountain Jewish Film Festival Artistic Director Dorothy Goldstone greets festival goers

OPENING NIGHT DELIVERED RICK WINSTON INSIGHTS, ARMAGEDDON TIME AND SUPER SNACKS

The White Mountain Jewish Film Festival (WMJFF) opened on Thursday, July 6 at the Colonial Theater. The weather was delightfully warm and clear, the theater pleasantly air conditioned.

Balaboost-est Nancy Fages prepared a gala buffet of salmon sushi, blini with caviar, mac and cheese plus fruit, veggies and cookies. Husband Geoff handled the bar, pouring non-alcohol sangria punch and bottles of the real stuff.

Nancy has generously shared her Crispy Rice with Spicy Salmon for a crowd recipe. Find it here.

Friend of the festival, Rick Winston, created context for "Armageddon Time," comparing it to another Jewish memoir film of 2022, Steven Speilburg's "The Fabelmans". Rick offered anecdotes about the film's cast and characters, including Anthony Hopkins' Yiddish-inflected American English, acquired by way of England; Jeremy Strong's complex and repressed interpretation of father Irving; and Jessica Chastain, as Marianne Trump, who wanted to keep her participation under wraps so as to not steal the show's pre-release energy.

Rick introduced director James Gray's other works. He talked about Gray's motivation to capture his experience going to school with Donald Trump, and the messages of superiority and bigotry that Fred Trump espoused - all through the eyes of his 12-year old self.

A lively discussion followed the film. Viewers commented on the relationships between and the aspirations of the characters, the 1980s Queens setting, the shadow of the holocaust on the Grey family, and the forces of assimilation, bigotry and otherness that colored their lives.