Summer Film Series returns to SJCT next week

The organizers of the Summer Film Series at San Juan Community Theatre send along previews of the first two films.

The 2022 Summer Film Series kicks off in one week. It will be a true delight to get together again after a two-year forced hiatus. As in the past, all showings start at 7 p.m. and are on a pay-what-you-can basis. Fresh popcorn is still just $2 and refills are free.

Given the losses we all suffered during the pandemic, we were reluctant to include “dark” films (e.g. those dealing with war or personal tragedies), but also didn’t feel we were ready for comedies. So, many films this year are documentaries. Here are brief descriptions of our first two movies.

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time

Tuesday, July 12 at 7 p.m.
Documentary, not rated
Run time: 2 hours, 7 minutes

This film took 39 years to make. It is a is a deep, immersive dive into the author’s upbringing and his creative output as chronicled by his friend, filmmaker Robert Weide. It spans his childhood in Indianapolis, his experience as a prisoner of war in World War II, his marriage, family, and divorce, his early careers as a publicist for General Electric and a car salesman, and his long years as a struggling writer, leading to eventual superstardom in 1969 following the publication of his lightning-bolt anti-war novel Slaughterhouse-Five. For Vonnegut fans it is a must-see.  For those who are not, it is an intimate view into a kind, caring person and his biographer.

Tel Aviv on Fire

Tuesday, July 19 at 7 p.m.
Dramatic comedy, not rated
Run time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Hidden within this almost farcical comedy is the story of one Palestinian trying to exist in two separate but overlapping worlds. Rumpled, easygoing Salam lives in Jerusalem and must pass through the barrier twice daily on the way to his new job in Ramallah as a production assistant on a television soap opera Tel Aviv on Fire. Written primarily for Palestinians, it captures the attention of an Israeli Defense Force officer whose wife is a fan. The connection is made, as so often in films from Israel and the Palestinian territories, at a military checkpoint.

Salam doesn’t have any experience in TV production, but he is fluent in Hebrew, so he’s occasionally consulted on dialogue. Based on this minor task, he identifies himself as the show’s writer when he’s interrogated by Assi, the commander of the checkpoint. It turns out that Assi, has a few ideas for Tel Aviv on Fire — and is determined to see them adopted. Unlikely circumstances get Salam promoted to the show’s writing staff where, to curry the commanders favor, he attempts to insert some of Assi’s ideas into the scripts. What ensues is a soap opera itself with many twists and turns.

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