NPT is partnering with two Nashville community organizations for free documentary screening events next week.
Violins of Hope on Wednesday, April 5
NPT presents Violins of Hope: Strings of the Holocaust at the Gordon Jewish Community Center (801 Percy Warner Blvd., Nashville, 37205) from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, April 5. Narrated by actor Adrian Brody, the documentary follows the journey of Israeli violinmaker Amnon Weinstein in his efforts to restore violins that were played by Jewish prisoners in concentration camps and instruments connected to the Klezmer musical culture. The panelists for this event will be Mark Freedman, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee; and Steven Brosvik, the Nashville Symphony Orchestra’s chief operating officer. Click here to RSVP for this event.
This haunting film by Lance K. Shultz reveals a bright spot following one of the darkest chapters in history. There was little reprieve from the despair and horror surrounding Jews in the Holocaust, but music – particularly that of violins, which hold an important role in Jewish culture – offered temporary solace and a glimmer of hope. The instruments returned to the concert stage in 2015 in a performance by the Cleveland Orchestra featuring violin virtuoso Shlomo Mintz. A traveling exhibit of the violins will be on display at Nashville Public Library’s main branch March 18 through May 28, 2018; and the Nashville Symphony will perform a “Violins of Hope” concert, in which orchestra members will play the restored instruments, March 22 – 24, 2018.
120 Days on Thursday, April 6
NPT presents a free screening and panel discussion of 120 Days: Undocumented in America from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, April 6, at Casa Azafrán (2195 Nolensville Rd., Nashville 37211). Ted Roach’s film is about Miguel Cortes, a North Carolina man who is given 120 days to self-deport to Mexico after a traffic stop. This timely documentary puts a face on the immigration debate as Cortes must decide whether to leave his wife and two daughters, or disappear into the shadows in his adopted homeland. The panelists for this event are: Wade Munday, executive director of Tennessee Justice for our Neighbors; Denise Rocha, associate director of Migrant Education for Conexión Américas; Maritza Erazo, psychotherapist for Family & Children’s Service; and Karla Ruiz, executive chef/proprietor of Karla’s Catering and Prepared Foods. Click here to RSVP for this event.
120 Days is part of the Southern Documentary Fund’s Reel South series airing 11 p.m. Tuesdays on NPT.
Find more NPT events at wnpt.org/events.