Begins May 19 in Northampton.
Northampton resident Julia Mintz, co-producer of "Joe Papp in Five Acts," will hold a question-and-answer session after a showing of the documentary on May 19 at Lander Grinspoon Academy in Northampton. She will also give a preview of her current project, "Partisans: The True Story of Armed Jewish Resistance During the War." NORTHAMPTON – Lander Grinspoon Academy will launch a new social justice film series on May 19 at 7 p.m. with “Joe Papp in Five Acts,” which highlights the work of the legendary film director and producer Joseph Papp who addressed such issues in his work.
Tickets for the event at the academy, 257 Prospect St., are $7.50 adults, $5 children (the film is recommended for ages 14 and older.
The series, which is open to the public, will highlight the work of local documentary filmmakers and feature post-screening discussions with each filmmaker.
Northampton resident Julia Mintz, co-producer of the Papp documentary and parent of two academy children, will hold a question-and-answer session after the film. She will also give a preview of her current project, “Partisans: The True Story of Armed Jewish Resistance During the War.”
Papp transformed American theater by championing interracial casting and freedom of expression.
He brought free “Shakespeare in the Park” to New York City’s Central Park (along with “Hair,” “A Chorus Line,” “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf”), and nurtured many of the great playwrights, directors and actors of the stage today.
The film features scenes and testimonials from luminaries Meryl Streep, James Earl Jones, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Ntozake Shange, Kevin Kline and Roscoe Lee Brown.
In a release, Linda Minoff, the academy’s executive director, said the Papp film “examines the relevance of Shakespeare, which the academy’s fifth graders adapted and performed this year.”
“It also address issues of social justice, a subject woven throughout the school’s daily curriculum,” Minoff said. “Documentary films hold a mirror to the times we live in. They educate us and deepen our understanding of important issues. Often, they inspire us to perform acts of tikkun olam – helping to make the world a better place – a central component of LGA’s vision and learning.”
Mintz work includes “Love Free or Die,” a documentary about the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, Bishop V. Gene Robinson, which won the 2012 Sundance Special Jury award, and films “Soundtrack for a Revolution,” about the civil rights movement, and “Nanking” (2007), which were short-listed for Academy Awards.
In 2011 she produced “California State of Mind: The Legacy of Pat Brown,” and numerous other projects including Emmy award-winning documentaries made for PBS.
For more information on the series, call (860) 371- 4820 or email shana@shanasureck.com To reserve advance tickets, call Ashley at (413) 584-6622, ext. 100.
Tickets will be available at the door. Lander-Grinspoon Academy is a Jewish day school for grades K-6. For more information, visit www.lgaschechter.org/