Sopris Sun interns gain cultural insight from Shortfest filmmakers

Youth Correspondents

Recently, three of The Sopris Sun youth journalism interns, Yesenia Benavides, Antoinette Brasier and Dominic Furer, had the chance to interview two directors whose films were featured at Aspen Film’s Shortsfest this year: Julia Elihu, director of “In the Garden of Tulips,” and Noam Argov, director of “Sulam.” Below are but a few highlights from the interviews.

‘In the Garden of the Tulips’ This film takes place during the IranIraq war and is about a young Iranian Jewish girl whose father is attempting to help her escape the country.

Dominic: As a Jewish American, I wondered about your symbolic use of the Shema [a Jewish prayer] in the film?

Julia: I came across that rendition of singing the Shema a couple of years ago on YouTube. It really touched my heart because I’m an Iranian Jew myself. We’re the Mizrahi Jews, which is a smaller community that a lot of people don’t know about. The reason I love the way this Mizrahi Rabbi sang the prayer is because you can really hear the roots of the Middle East in the way he’s singing the Shema. It reminded me a lot of this Yeminite cantor I had growing up who would sing the prayer in a very similar way.

We chose to not have any music in the film except for the Shema at the very end to symbolize that now she’s going toward freedom, and is one step closer

By Antoinette Brasier Youth Correspondent

The month of April is often associated with Easter, the end of ski season and sporadic spring weather. April is also considered National Donate Life Month, promoting organ transplant awareness and encouraging people to become donors. This reporter wanted to learn more, so I reached out to a local organization involved in the field to see why organ donation is so important.

The Sopris Sun interviewed Jessi Rochel, the executive director of the Chris Klug Foundation (CKF), and to start off asked what the CKF does and what its goals are.

“We are passionate advocates for donation and transplantation, as well as staunch supporters for past, present and future donors and recipients,” she replied. “CKF uses the stories of organ donors, transplant candidates and transplant recipients to inspire, alongside events, school courses and webinars to educate.”

The end goal, according to Rochel, is to encourage “individuals to give the gift of life and register as organ donors. However,” she added, “We still understand and respect a person's right to make the decision that is best for them when it comes to registering as a donor.”

The executive director shared how the foundation began. The founder of the organization, Chris Klug, “was 21-years-old when he discovered he to being able to sing her prayers freely and loudly.

Yesenia: What do you hope U.S. audiences will take away from the film?

Julia: I want to highlight a group of people and a culture that most people don’t know about. Growing up as an Iranian Jew in San Diego, everyone was kind of confused by that and what that meant. I am trying to showcase my culture and my people and the significant moments that happened to them, and not too long ago, which affected my generation. I also want people to see this young teenage girl from the other side of the world and realize, “Oh she’s not so different from me.”

‘Sulam’ needed a transplant,” Rochel said. “He spent almost six years on the waitlist before receiving his transplant.” Eighteen months after surgery, he won a Bronze Medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Later, he started the CKF to promote lifesaving organ, eye and tissue donation; as well as to improve the quality of life for those touched by transplantation, she explained.

This film sheds light on the experience of an Israeli mother and daughter who immigrated to the U.S. and the stresses of navigating everyday life in a new country.

Antoinette: Why was the girl so embarrassed that her mom didn’t speak English?

Noam: It’s based on feelings that I had growing up with a mom who didn’t speak English. I think sometimes the way Americans react to that can be negative. I would get the feeling that people didn’t want to understand what my mom was saying or take the time to work with her accent.

I think she just really wants her mom to be American — to fit in. And, that’s just never going to happen for them.

The CKF is partnering with Donor Alliance, a nonprofit organization based out of Denver, to host awareness events and campaigns to educate prospective donors. Rochel says that the CKF believes it “is vital to educate kids [and adults too, of course] about organ, eye and tissue donation so that they are able to make educated and informed decisions about registering as donors.”

Jessi went on to explain that when teenagers register to get their driver’s permit or license, they often don’t know what to do when asked if they’d like to be an organ donor. For that very reason, the CKF educates children about organ donation so that they “know what their answer is going to be before they even set foot in the door” of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), Rochel stated.

Rochel shared that 96% of Americans support the cause, but only 54% of them are actually registered as organ donors. “Donation and transplantation suffer from several myths and misconceptions” she continued, and that can deter people from registering. But, the CKF “works to dispel” those myths and educate people

I think that’s the tension there: this desire versus learning to appreciate the situation that they’re in and dealing with the reality of who her family is.

Yesenia: How old were you when you immigrated to the U.S.?

Noam: I was three. We immigrated to a rural area of Central Florida where, in the ‘90s, there weren’t a lot of immigrants at the time, and there definitely weren’t a lot of Jews. So, my parents and I were isolated. There was also this strange experience where the small Jewish community there also didn’t really accept us because of the language barrier.

I grew up in this bubble in a way, speaking Hebrew, and reading and writing it — that was really important to my parents. Over the years they did assimilate but it took them a really long time to kind of integrate into the community.

To learn more about Noam Argov’s films, visit www.noamargov.com, as for Julia Elihu’s, visit www.juliaelihu. com with factual information.

“In the Garden of the Tulips” will screen at the Crystal Theatre on Saturday, April 29, as part of Shortsfest 2023 Award Winners Program Two, at 5pm. Program One begins at 7pm on April 28, also at the Crystal Theatre. Visit www.bit.ly/ShortsfestWinners for tickets and more information.

One such myth is that a person can be too old or too young to be a donor. This is what Rochel had to say about that: “The youngest organ donor in the world was only 74-minutes-old when her parents donated her liver cells and kidneys. And, the oldest tissue donor in the world was 107 when she donated her corneas.”

It does not matter what somebody’s sexual orientation, gender identity (or expression), race, ethnicity, income or social status is, they are all eligible to be organ donors and recipients. Another concern some people have before signing up to be an organ donor is past illnesses or sexually transmitted diseases — specifically HIV (human immunodeficiency virus).

The HOPE (HIV Organ Policy Equity) Act made organ donation and transplantation possible between a continues on page 26

Frankenstein continued from page 21 attempts to come to Frankenstein’s aid as other villagers attack him.

Rounding out the cast are Michael Banks, Courtney Lindgren, Jay Edmonds, Lindsey Hamilton, Lydia Mitchell, Christopher Wheatley and Ben Williams.

In her third STC production as dramaturg, Lily Wymer asks us a moral question. “Weiss’ ‘Monster or Man?’ stitches together Mary’s timeless novel with the unusual circumstances of its conception to drive the audience to a single question: who is to be feared, truly, the creator or his creation?”

The remaining performances are on April 21 and 22 at 7 pm and April 23 at 2 pm. The April 21 performance will be livestreamed as well. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors, CMC students and employees, and can be purchased at www.coloradomtn.edu or by calling the box office at 970-947-8177.