On January 24th, Aviva Kempner headed out to Las Vegas, Nevada for the 14th Annual Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival. Aviva spoke at the screening with Leslie Smith Rosen, the Head of Upper School for AEC, and drew a very enthusiastic crowd.
Aviva Kempner with Joshua Abbey, director of the Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival
Upon her return to Washington DC, Aviva attended a screening held by George Washington University’s Department of Religion. Aviva was joined by Stephanie Deutsch, who was interviewed in the film.
Stephanie Deutsch (left) and Aviva Kempner (right)
Also attending the screening was Lawrence Perry, who had attended a Rosenwald School. He was greatly appreciative of the films creation and loved seeing it.
After returning from Berlin for a screening of one of her previous films, Partisans of Vilna, Aviva immediately headed to Charlottesville, VA for the Virginia Film Festival’s screening of Rosenwald at the University of Virginia! Before the film, Diane and Tim Naughton hosted a luncheon for Rosenwald with many in attendance- including the head of the festival, Jody Kielbasa. The Naughton’s are big supporters of Rosenwald and the festival, with Diane serving on the festival board.
(left to right) Diane Naughton, Aviva Kempner, Tim Naughton
After the screening, a Q&A was held with filmmaker Aviva Kempner, Pam Horowitz (spouse of the late Julian Bond), and interviewee and UVA professor Rita Dove. The panel was moderated by Deborah McDowell (Director of the Carter G. Woodson Institute of African-American and African Studies). The packed theater was filled with an engaging audience- including someone who had attended a Rosenwald school, and even someone who currently lives in a restored Rosenwald school!
(left to right) Diane Naughton, Jody Kielbasa, Pam Horowitz, Deborah McDowell, Aviva Kempner, Rita Dove
Rosenwald was shown to an excited full house at a special screening at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland on Sunday! The screening was prompted when a fan, Evelyn Korman, saw the film in Philadelphia and was so moved by it that she encouraged her synagogue to arrange the event.
Alma Hackett and Newell Quinton (who were interviewed in the film) also came out from Santa Domingo to attend the screening and give a talk.
Newell Quinton and Alma Hackett giving a talk after the screening
After the talk, Evelyn and Bernard Korman brought copies of Peter Ascoli’s book, Julius Rosenwald: The Man Who Built Sears, Roebuck and Advanced the Cause of Black Education in the American South to pass out with the help of Rabbi Peter Hyman.
(left to right) Aviva Kempner, Evelyn Korman, Rabbi Peter Hyman, Bernard Korman
The event was sponsored by Temple B’nai Israel, The Frederick Douglass Honor Society, the NAACP, Talbot Association of Clergy and Laity, and The Academy Art Museum.
The place? Ann Arbor, Michigan. The setting? A small movie theater. The time? The early ’70s. A young grad student, Aviva Kempner, sells tickets while attending college at the University of Michigan. Maybe it’s raining out- it rains a lot in Michigan, right?
Flash forward to the present:
Aviva with her friends and family
On September 24th, Aviva returned to the Michigan Theater to proudly screen her third critically acclaimed documentary with the support of her friends and family! Following the screening, she treated her town of her alma mater with a Q&A about her project and Julius Rosenwald.
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