Features
Israeli Consulate to screen incredible film about Israeli photographer Amos Nachoum – produced by Nancy Spielberg
By BERNIE BELLAN Two and a half years ago we published a story by Martin Zeilig about a new documentary produced by Nancy Spielberg about an incredibly brave Israeli deep sea photographer by the name of Amos Nachoum. From April 22-29 you can watch that amazing documentary at https://youtu.be/TCLUq_4BoFU. Click on Read more to find out about how this film was made and how you can interact with the film’s director, Yonatan Nir on April 29.
Here is the information we were sent by the Israeli Consulate in Toronto: “This film follows the journey of world-renowned underwater wildlife photographer Amos Nachoum in his effort to photograph a polar bear up close while swimming with it – an incredibly dangerous and nearly impossible feat – all the while painting a nuanced picture of Nachoum’s complex life and relationships. Nachoum is the only underwater wildlife photographer in the world to attempt (and succeed at) this shoot, with the help of a couple local Inuit. The film also reminds viewers of the disruptions these polar bears experience in their ecosystems due to environmental changes, and stresses the importance of preserving it.”
On April 29 the Consulate will be holding a webinar with Yonatan Nir. Register here: https://bit.ly/3ghPMJY
Here is the story that Martin Zeilig wrote in 2019 about the film and about his interview with the film’s director:PICTURE OF HIS LIFE (Directors: Yonatan Nir and Dani Menkin Hey Jude Productions Playmount Productions– Executive Producer: Nancy Spielberg 2019)
review/interview By Martin Zeilig
At one point in this remarkable and awe-inspiring documentary film, world renowned Israeli wildlife photographer Amos Nachoum is interviewed while sitting on a rock on the barren shores of Baker Lake, Nunavut.
“Believing in yourself, and going on with it, no matter what the obstacle, this all the power of being here. This is life,” the stocky 65 year old says with a deep-seated emotion in his voice, while raising a clinched fist in fierce determination as he shifts his gaze slightly to the camera.
It’s a stirring moment.
The film follows Nachoum in the Canadian Arctic, as he prepares for his decisive challenge- to photograph a polar bear underwater, while swimming alongside it.
“It’s his final remaining photographic dream,” says the film’s publicity material.
As the journey unfolds, so does an intimate and painful story of dedication, sacrifice and personal redemption.
“Amos to me is one of the best ambassadors of the ocean,” Jean Michel Cousteau, the celebrated Oceanographic Explorer, says in an off camera commentary. “He takes huge amount of risks to bring those images, which no one has ever been able to capture.”
“He comes back with images that no one has been able to get,” adds Adam Ravetch, Emmy Award winning cinematographer, who is part of the team filming the documentary. “He is probably the best underwater still photographer in the world.”
Marine biologist Sylvia Earle, the female chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also attests to Nachoum’s prowess as an underwater wildlife photographer.
We see some of the striking shots that Amos has captured over the years: an open jawed leopard seal moments before it’s about to chomp into a penguin in the waters of Antarctica; amazing (and chilling) close-ups of great white sharks; blue whales; anacondas in the Amazon; snow leopards in the Himalayas; a huge crocodile resting on the bottom of an African river, and much more.
The film’s US premiere was July 25 at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, with a follow-up screening July 28 and a separate screening in San Rafael on August 2, noted an article earlier this summer in The Times of Israel (In Arctic, polar bear is final frontier for famed Israeli wildlife photographer). Earlier this year, the film debuted at Docaviv in Tel Aviv, with Nachoum attending the screening.
‘“Be calm and collected with wildlife,”’ Nachoum, who was interviewed by The Times of Israel, said in the article. ‘“The biggest mistake all photographers do is be quite aggressive.”’
Nachoum has a fractious relationship with his father. On a visit home, the father belittles his son for not living up to his standards. He wanted his only son to become a carpenter and to settle down with a wife and children.
Another scene shows him on life support systems in a hospital room calling for Amos.
During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Nachoum served with an elite unit. The experience left him shattered.
“Speaking about his service still left him “very emotional, my hair standing still,” he says in The Times of Israel article. He was also a war photographer in Israel.
He left for the United States shortly after his stint in the army to pursue his dream of becoming an underwater wildlife photographer.
“Calmness is important even when photographing the polar bear – which can include Homo sapiens as part of its diet,” he said in The Times of Israel story, and which Adam Ravetch emphasizes in the film.
A male polar bear can weigh up to 750 kilograms and are exceptional swimmers. “Polar bears usually dive 3 to 4.5 m i.e. 9.8-14.8 feet deep into the cold water of arctic and can hold their breath for Researchers really don’t know that actually how deep can a polar more than three minutes,” says the Zoologist website. “But they estimated that it can dive as deep as 6m i.e. 20 feet.”
Nachoum’s first effort at photographing a polar bear in arctic waters occurred in 2005. It “nearly proved deadly” for him, noted The Times of Israel .
‘“I was scared to death,”’ he said to the reporter. ‘“I was laughing about it, but I was scared. My heart was pounding. Yet, I wanted to do it again.”’
“His second attempt, in 2015, helped Menkin and Nir culminate what they describe as a 10-year odyssey to make the film,” the Israeli newspaper states.
Nachoum and his crew, including, of course, their Inuit guides, have a five day window in which to find and photograph a polar bear in the water.
Their first sighting takes place on Day two. It’s a big male polar bear.
Nachoum is ready to with full scuba gear. He plunges backwards into the icy waters from the side of the boat.
The aggressive bear dives after this camera totting intruder. It’s a heart stopping moment.
The screen goes blank for several seconds. But, Nachoum managed to elude Nanook in the nick of time.
He’s a bit shaken by the experience and disappointed.
Without giving away too much, success is achieved on the final day.
A mother bear and her two large cubs are spotted swimming in the lake. Nachoum dives into the water. It’s a miraculous moment.
The final scene shows Nachoum returning to Israel to visit his father’s gravesite. He places a special gift on the gravestone– a small framed photograph of the three bears taken underwater.
A voice over of the late Canadian poet/musician/novelist, Leonard Cohen, singing his song, Anthem, plays as the credits begin to roll: “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
The directors agreed to an email interview with this newspaper.
The Jewish Post & News: 1)What were some difficulties involved in making this film?
Menkin: There are two sides to this question. One is technical and the other is psychological / personal. The technical issues were huge– starting with selling a film about a man who is 65 years old and wants to do something that no one ever done before him, and that when HE tried to do it before – he almost got killed.
So prior to the shooting in the Arctic many potential financiers said: “Please keep us posted, it sounds amazing – call us when you come back… alive….”
Then when we finally raised the money, we had to build the whole infrastructure for the production by ourselves. There are no diving clubs over there, no hotels or transportation. We had to ship compressors, ice diving equipment, generators, food, fuel, and so on. I had to fly on nine flights from Israel to the location of the shooting.
Then to live there in the middle of nowhere and to find the right bears and create the opportunity for Amos to get into the water and have a peaceful encounter with these magnificent animals… it is all very complicated.
We could not have done it without ADAM RAVETCH – who is not only the best Arctic Cinematographer in the world (and not only in my opinion), but also has 25 years of experience working with the Inuit people in the high Arctic.
Of course we could not have done it without the Kaludjack family. Two members of the family, Billy and Patrick Kaludjak, who were with us on the shoot, died a year and a half later when their snowmobile broke through the ice.
Our film is dedicated to the memory of these two wonderful human beings, who we had the privilege to know even if it was for a short period of time.
The other difficulty was to get our protagonist open up and talk about things that he kept inside for 40 years. It is always a complicated issue to get someone’s trust; it’s more complicated when it’s on film and it’s even more complicated when your protagonist is one of the best and most famous in his field.
JP&N: How long did it take to film?
Nir: It took us 10 years to get this movie off the ground. It was also how Yonatan and I have met, and started to work on this and DOLPHIN BOY (another of their films). The main reason it took us so long was that we had to raise a feature film budget for a documentary; and we were deferring to go with Amos all the way to the arctic and try to take his picture.
JP&N: Please share some anecdotes/incidents in the making of the Picture of His Life.
Menkin: One day, we left Adam and Billy Kauldjack RIP on a small island, maybe 50 meters by 10 meters with a camera and a drone.
We wanted to get a shot of Amos alone in the water in the empty Arctic sea… we never used that shot in the film BTW (by the way).
We sailed away from them (to allow) Adam to fly the drone back and forth above Amos with no boats in the frame. The time passed, strong winds, maybe 20 minutes (later).
When Adam reported to us that he got the shot, we sailed back to Amos to take him out of the water. He was very cold, so we warmed him up with some hot water and tea when suddenly I hear screaming from the little island.
I looked back terrified. I thought a bear got on the island or something like that, and to my amazement there was no island, literally.
The tide came in very fast and almost drowned Adam and Billy with our expensive gear. We sailed as fast as we could to get them out of there in the very last second.
JP&N: How long have you two been working together?
Nir: After (his first film) 39 POUNDS OF LOVE, I met Yonatan when I was approached by a producer to direct the film about Amos. We joined forces on DOLPHIN BOY and now PICTURE OF HIS LIFE while we both have our own films. Yonatan focuses on documentaries, like MY HERO BROTHER, and I’m writing and directing fiction and docs. We are good friends and both like road trip movies and wanted to give this story all the elements we have in our previous work.
JP&N: What has been the response in Israel to the film?
Menkin: The response is unbelievable. We are in cinemas all over the country, and sold out almost every screening. The story of Amos with the Yom Kippur war is the story of a whole generation.
People love adventures and inspiring human beings who chase their dreams and are fighting their own fears, doubts and inner demons. To my happiness, people in Israel are starting to care about the future of our planet more and more, and our film is also about that. There is something to relate to in our film for everyone.
The most touching feedback to the film was from my eight year old daughter who said, “Abba I liked the film very much. I just didn’t like it when Amos father was yelling at him and I didn’t understand why did you have to include wars in your film?”
I didn’t know how to answer that.
JP&N: Anything else you’d like to add?
Nir: We just premiered PICTURE OF HIS LIFE in North America, and got incredible reviews and standing ovations. We are excited to tour with it around the world (in Canada as well) and spread the message.
Features
Japanese Straightening/Hair Rebonding at SETS on Corydon
Japanese Straightening is a hair straightening process invented in Japan that has swept America.
Features
History of the Winnipeg Beach Synagogue: 1950-2025
By BERNIE BELLAN The history of the Winnipeg Beach Synagogue is a fascinating one. We have had several articles over the years about the synagogue in The Jewish Post & News.
In June 2010 I wrote an article for The Jewish Post & News upon the 60th anniversary of the synagogue’s opening. Here are the opening paragraphs from that article:
“Sixty years ago a group of Winnipeg Beach vacationers decided that what their vacation area lacked was a synagogue. As it happened, a log cabin one-room schoolhouse in the Beausejour area happened to be available.
“In due course, the log cabin was relocated to the corner of Hazel and Grove in Winnipeg Beach, where it stayed for 48 years.”
In December 1994 my late brother, Matt, wrote a story about the spraying of antisemitic grafitti on the synagogue which, at that time, was still situated at its original location on the corner of Hazel and Grove in the town of Winnipeg Beach:
“Two 16-year-olds spraypainted slogans like ‘Die Jews,’ ‘I’ll kill you Jews,’ and other grafitti in big letters on the beach synagogue.
“Jim Mosher, a news reporter for the Interlake Spectator in Gimli, said last Halloween’s vandalism against the synagogue wasn’t the first. In the late 1980s, he claimed, it was spraypainted with swastikas.
“Jack Markson, a longtime member of the Winnipeg Beach Synagogue, last week also said he could remember finding anti-Semitic grafitti spraypainted on the synagogue ‘a few years ago,’ and at least twice in the 1970s, when the cottage season was over.”
My 2010 article continued: “In 1998 the Town of Winnipeg Beach informed the members of the synagogue that the building would have to be hooked up to the town’s sewer and water system. Rather than incur the cost of $3-4,000, which was thought to be ‘prohibitive,’ according to longtime beach synagogue attendee Laurie Mainster, synagogue goers looked elsewhere for a solution.
“As a result, the board of Camp Massad was approached and asked whether the synagogue might be relocated there, with the understanding that the synagogue would be made available to the camp at any time other than what were then Friday evening and Saturday morning services.
“Over the years the ‘beach synagogue’ had come to be a very popular meeting place for summertime residents of Winnipeg Beach and Gimli. In fact, for years minyans were held twice daily, in addition to regular Saturday morning services. Of course, in those years Winnipeg Beach was also home to a kosher butcher shop.
“While the little synagogue, which measured only 18 x 24 feet, has gone through several transformations, including the move to Camp Massad, and the opening up to egalitarian services in 2007 (The move to egalitarian services was as much a practical necessity as it was a nod to the equality of women – the only Kohen present at the time was a woman!), it has always remained cramped at the best of times.
“In recent years the synagogue has seen the addition of a window airconditioner (although to benefit from it, you really have to be sitting just a few feet away), as well as a fridge that allows synagogue attendees to enjoy a regular Saturday morning Kiddush meal following the service.
“According to Laurie Mainster, the Saturday morning service has continued to be popular, even though many of the attendees now drive in from Winnipeg, as they have sold the cottages they once maintained.
“On the other hand, one of the side benefits to being located on Camp Massad’s grounds has been an infusion of young blood from among the camp counsellors.
“Since there is no longer a rabbi available to conduct services (Rabbi Weizman did lead services for years while he had a cottage at the beach), those in attendance now take turns leading the services themselves.
“Anyone may attend services and, while there are no dues collected, donations are welcome. (Donations should be made to the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, with donors asked to specify that their donations are to be directed to the beach synagogue.)
“Mainster also says that the beach synagogue is now undergoing an expansion, which will be its first in 60 years. An entirely new space measuring 16 x 18 feet is being added – one that will allow for a real Kiddush area. (Until now, a table has been set up in the back of the synagogue and synagogue goers would help themselves to the buffet that is set up each Saturday during the summer. While pleasant enough, it will certainly be more comfortable to have an actual area set aside for the Saturday afternoon after service lunch.)
“As for dress, longtime attendee Abe Borzykowski (in an article written by Sharon Chisvin for the Free Press in 2007) remarked that ‘I don’t think there are many synagogues where people can attend in shorts, T-shirts and sandals and not feel out of place.’ “
As mentioned in that 2010 article, the beach synagogue at that time was about to undergo an extensive remodelling. Here is an article from a January 2011 issue that describes that remodelling process. The article was written by Bernie Sucharov, who has been a longtime member of the beach synagogue:
“The Hebrew Congregation of Winnipeg Beach made a major change to the synagogue this past summer. With the help of many volunteers, Joel Margolese being the project manager, the synagogue was expanded and an addition was built to handle the overflow crowds, as well as to add more space for the kiddush following services.
“The volunteers spent many Sundays during the summer months building the addition. Bad weather caused many delays, but finally the addition was completed one week before the official summer opening.
“The volunteers were: Joel Margolese, Gordon Steindel, Sheldon Koslovsky, Viktor Lewin, Harvey Zabenskie, Nestor Wowryk, Kevin Wowryk, Victor Spigelman, Jerry Pritchard, and David Bloomfield.
“On Sunday, June 25, 2010 a special ceremony was held to affix a mezzuzah to the front entrance door. Gordon Steindel had the honour of affixing the mezzuzah, which was donated by Sid Bercovich and Clarice Silver.
“Refreshments and food for the day were prepared by Phyllis Spigelman, also known as our catering manager. Throughout the summer, Phyllis, Lenore Kagan and other friends prepared the food for our kiddush.
“A sound system was donated by Arch and Brenda Honigman in memory of their father, Sam Honigman z”l. “The system was installed by Joel Margolese and Stevan Sucharov. This will allow the overflow crowd to hear the service in the new addition.
“There were also generous donations of 50 chumashim and an air conditioner. The chumashim were donated by Gwen, Sheldon and Mark Koslovsky. The air conditioner in the new addition was donated by Joel and Linda Margolese.
“The official opening of the synagogue for the summer took place on July 3, 2010. We had an overflow crowd of 70+ people.”
Since that 2010 major addition to the synagogue, it has also added a wheelchair ramp (although I’ve been unable to ascertain exactly when the ramp was built). Also, the synagogue also has its own outdoor privy now. (Attendees used to have to use facilities in Camp Massad.)
And, as already noted in article previously posted to this site (and which you can read at Beach Synagogue about to celebrate 75th anniversary), in recognition of that occasion, on August 2nd members of the synagogue will be holding a 75th anniversary celebration.
As part of the celebration anyone who is a descendant or relative of any of the original members of the first executive committee is invited to attend the synagogue that morning.
If you are a relative please contact Abe Borzykowski at wpgbeachshule@shaw.ca or aborzykowski@shaw.ca to let Abe know you might be attending.
Features
Kinzey Posen: CBC Winnipeg’s former “go-to guy”
By GERRY POSNER If former Winnipegger Lawrence Wall was the CBC go-to guy in Ottawa, CBC Winnipeg had its own version of a go-to guy for many years with none other than the very well known Kinzey Posen. Of course, many readers will recognize that name from his career with Finjan, the Klezmer group so famous across Canada and beyond. It has been written about Posen and his wife Shayla Fink that they have been involved in music since they got out of diapers. And, as an aside, their love and ability in music has now been transmitted to the next generation as in their son, Ariel Posen (but that’s another story).
Kinzey Posen (not to be confused with Posner, or maybe we are to be confused, but who knows for sure?), was a graduate of Peretz School, having attended there from nursery right until Grade 7, graduating in1966. That was followed by Edmund Partridge and West Kildonan Collegiate. Musically, he was in large part self taught. However, he did have some teachers along the way. After moving to Vancouver – from 1974-78, he had the chance to study acoustic classical bass with a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. When Kinzey lived in Vancouver, he also worked as a jazz musician.
Upon returning to Winnipeg, Kinzey enrolled as a mature student at the University of Winnipeg, where he obtained a Bachelor of Urban Studies degree. Although the degree was in no way connected to the career that followed, his attending the University of Winnipeg was critical to his connecting with the CBC. Why? you ask. Kinzey had a position after graduation working for the Institute of Urban Studies. While there, he met someone who invited him to work for the Department of Continuing Education as one of their program directors. At the time the Department of Continuing Education was located at 491 Portage Avenue, which was also known as the TJ Rice Building. The CBC also leased some space in the same building. According to Kinzey, the CBC part of the building “included HR, different shows and other support offices. Continuing Education was located in the basement and main floor and that’s where I worked.”
KInzey had long had an interest in the CBC, which made the fact that the CBC had some offices in the same building where he was working serendipitous. That Kinzey might be interested in visiting the CBC was not an accident. As a young boy he had a nightly connection to CBC, as it was his ritual to listen to CBC Radio (as well as all sorts of other radio stations across the USA) on his transistor radio every night in bed. He became enamoured of one particular CBC host, Bill Guest, so that when going to sleep, he imagined that he was Guest doing interviews with imaginary guests. That dream of working for CBC became a reality when he had a chance to do a one week gig with Jack Farr’s network program.
Kinzey took a week off from his Continuing Education job and spent five days at the CBC. That week was a training session for Posen, as he had to create ideas, research, pre-interview, write the script, and set up the studio for Farr’s interview. He was almost in his dream job – although not quite – since it was only for one week. His opportunity, however, came in 1988, when he was offered a one-year term as a production assistant – the lowest guy on the ladder, for a show called “ Simply Folk,” with the late Mitch Podolak as the host. Although he was indeed at the bottom as far as those working on the show were concerned, he took a chance and gave his notice to the U of W. The rest is history. In his new job, Kinzey learned how to become a producer. Lucky for him, at the end of the year, when the person he replaced was supposed to come back, she never returned (just like the song, “MTA,” by the Kingston Trio). At that point, Kinzey was hired full time at the CBC.
Kinzey was a fixture at the CBC for 27 years. During those years, Kinzey had the chance to work with Ross Porter, a respected former CBC host and producer, also with Karen Sanders – on the “Afternoon Edition.” One aspect of Kinzey’s job on the Afternoon Edition was to come up with ideas, mix sound effects, arrange interviews and music, to create a two-hour radio experience. In addition, he covered jazz and folk festivals and, as a result, was exposed to some of the best musicians in the world. With Ross Porter in the 1990s, he worked on a network jazz show called “ After Hours,” which was on from 8-10 PM five nights a week. Kinzey was involved with writing the scripts, picking the music, and recording the shows, as well as editing them and then presenting them to the network for playback.
Of course, over his career, Kinzey had many memorable moments. He told me about one of them. The story revolved around the National Jazz Awards one year in particular. The awards were to be broadcasted after the National News which, in those days, began much earlier in the evening, and were over by 8:00 pm. The legendary Oscar Peterson was lined up to play a half hour set at the awards, starting at 7:30. But, as Kinzey told me, Oscar Peterson had a “hate on” for the CBC ecause one of his recorded performances was wrongly edited and he refused to appear on CBC under any circumstances. As the time neared 8:05 PM, which was when the CBC was to begin its broadcast of the jazz awards, it became apparent that Oscar was not going to finish on time. As the producer of the awards show, Kinzey was tasked with telling Oscar Peterson to wrap it up and get off the stage. There was Kinzey Posen, a huge fan of Oscar Peterson, now faced with the prospect of telling Oscar – while he was still playing – with 500 people in the audience, to stop and get off the stage. Not often was or is Kinzey Posen frozen, but that was one such moment. There was one loud “Baruch Hashem” from Kinzey when Oscar completed his set literally just in time.
Clearly, Kinzey was part of a very successful run with After Hours as it was on the air for 14 years. It was easily one of the most popular shows on CBC Radio 2, and a winner of several broadcasting awards. Kinzey also played a major role in producing a two part documentary about legendary guitarist Lenny Breau.
When After Hours ended, Posen became one of the contributing producers to Canada Live and specialized in producing live radio specials for the network, such as the Junos, for CBC Radio One and Two. Needless to say, his career planted Posen in the world of some top notch musicians, including his time spent working with Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Dave Brubeck, Randy Bachman, Chantal Kreviazuk and a list of prominent names in the Canadian, American and European music spheres. Locally, the CBC came to refer to Kinzey as the Jewish expert. I would add music expert to that title.
After his 27 year run at the CBC – and before he fully retired, Kinzey went on to work for the Rady JCC as a program director for a year and a half. Of course, to say that Kinzey Posen is retired is a major contradiction in terms. You really can’t keep him down and he has his hand in a variety of programs and projects – most of which he remains silent about, as is his style.
When I realized the full depth and talent of Kinzey Posen, I quickly concluded that he must certainly be related to me. Even if he isn’t, I now tell people he is.