One Night Only: Charles Grodin Documentary Highlights the Comedian and Humanitarian

From Jewish Federation of Reading/Berks

Following a hilarious showing of Bad Shabbos on Tuesday, Nov. 18, the Jewish Federation of Reading/Berks is delighted to announce the second film in the Reading Jewish Film Series: Charles Grodin: Rebel with a Cause. This documentary highlights Grodin’s life and work, both as a professional actor and comedian, as well as his personal work to get wrongly convicted people released from prison.

The film will have one screening on Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m., at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 201 Washington St., Reading. Tickets are $10.00 for general admission, $8.00 for seniors (55+), military, first responders, and students.

Raised in a Jewish household in Pittsburgh, Charles Grodin’s life embodied the concept of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world. The film not only celebrates Charles Grodin’s hilarious acting career, but also his remarkable, decades-long, successful fight to get wrongly convicted people — most of whom were mothers of color with young children — out of prison.

The film includes interviews with Robert De Niro, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Elaine May, Carol Burnett, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Alan Arkin, Ellen Burstyn, Marc Maron, Lewis Black, Marlo Thomas, Jon Lovitz, plus several of the women Chuck got released from prison.

The film was selected for the Reading Jewish Film Series because it is an engaging and informative documentary and because it illuminates a life lived through Jewish values. Charles Grodin embodied Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, a key value in Judaism. Through his life, we learn to use our power and platform for good work to improve the world for the next generation.

There are two additional films in the Reading Jewish Film Series:

• Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. — Among Neighbors: Using live footage and stunning hand-drawn animation, Among Neighbors unearths a haunting true story of betrayal and survival. In a small Polish town, Jewish and Polish neighbors once lived in peace — until World War II shattered their community. This gripping documentary follows the only living survivor from the town and an aging eyewitness who saw Jews brutally murdered — six months after the Nazis were defeated.
• Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. — Shoshana: Harry Melling (Harry Potter, The Queen’s Gambit), Irina Starshenbaum, and Douglas Booth (My Salinger Year, Loving Vincent) star in a troubled love story set against the British Mandate just before the founding of the state of Israel. The film is prolific writer-director Michael Winterbottom’s passion project, 15 years in the making, and based on real people and events, and tells the story of a cross-cultural relationship between a ranking member of the British Palestine Police Force and a young Jewish woman to explore the way extremism and violence push people apart, forcing them to choose sides.

For additional information, please contact the Jewish Federation of Reading/Berks at info@jfreading.org or 610-921-0624.

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Source: bctv