Gold Coast Film Festival Movie Report
BY SUSAN BARTELSTONE,
GOLD COAST FILM
FESTIVAL SUB-COMMITTEE
CHAIRPERSON
Held in April and November,
the fabulous Gold Coast
Film Festival (GCFF) is a
two-week–long film event, showing
the kinds of high quality independent,
foreign and commercial films
I usually go to NYC for. Several
Long Island theaters close to North
Shore Towers (Great Neck, Roslyn,
Manhasset and Port Washington)
host the films and I’ve been attending
for years.
This year, some friends and I
went to three outstanding programs.
Our first outing was a
free “shorts” program, featuring
11 films from all over the world,
including The Netherlands, Ireland,
France and Israel/Germany (“The
Transfer”—particularly loved this
simple, poignant statement about
the Israeli-Palestinian state of
affairs). Some were funny; others
thought-provoking; all excellent.
The following day, we saw an
Israeli documentary called “The
Museum,” a fascinating behind-thescenes
look at the Israel Museum
in Jerusalem, which houses a
world-renowned collection of
works, ranging from prehistorical
to present-day modern. The
Museum is comprised of a series
of pavilions, housed on a 20-acre
campus, originally designed by
Japanese-American sculptor Isamu
Noguchi. Each pavilion features a
different collection and it’s said this
museum contains the most extensive
2018
December amount of biblical and Holy
Land archaeology in the world. One
of the most impressive pavilions is
the futuristic, minimalist Shrine of
¢the Book, which houses replicas
COURIER TOWERS be there
and you’ll
SHORE enjoy a
learning
experience. If interested, call
NORTH Membership Chairman Bud Bank
at 347-502-7365 or President Herb
Cooper at 718-631-8264 to make a
24 reservation. of seven of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
the oldest biblical manuscripts in
the world. Next to this pavilion is
nearly 11,000 square foot model of
Jerusalem from the Second Temple
Period, accurate in every detail.
Lastly, we couldn’t resist a
Hungarian film, called “Budapest
Noir,” based on a bestselling novel
set in pre-war Hungary, with
anti-Semitism playing a key role.
It was an accurate period drama
which paid homage to so many of
the vintage films I love (HUGE fan
of old 1940-50’s noirs). Thoroughly
enjoyable!
Just a few of the other 27 films
we could’ve chosen: a documentary
about a 19-year-old chef who
started cooking professionally at
age 13; “Bathtubs over Broadway,”
a “musical-comedy-documentary
about the bizarre world of industrial
musicals” (who knew?!); a
film about The Beatles; a special
Young Filmmakers Program for kids
from K-12 grade (know a budding
filmmaker?). There just wasn’t
enough time.
As Chairperson of a joint Sub-
Committee of the Special Projects
and Public Affairs, Marketing &
Media Committees, we are working
hard to make our beautiful movie
theater one of the venues for the
GCFF next year (as well as the LI
Film Festival and other special
events). Stay tuned for further
details; and see you at the movies!
Susan Bartelstone is a Crime
Prevention Specialist, podcaster
and blogger with thousands of
articles, posts and podcasts bearing
her byline. Her signature
topics concern domestic violence
and crime prevention and have
been featured in a long list of
media including Yahoo Home
Page, MainStreet.com and Time
Out New York. In another of her
incarnations, however, she’s a lifestyle
and restaurant reviewer for
advertorials which appear periodically
in the New York Daily News.
Towers Investment Club
BY BUD BANK
The North Shore Towers
Investment club met on
Tuesday, November 13 in
Coleridge Lounge at 7:30 p.m.
Judy Lev president of the Lev
group which is part of Morgan
Stanley, spoke about “The Midterm
Elections and how should we invest
now.” Lev always provides informative
and interesting presentations,
but this was the best. I’d love to print
what she said, but because of certain
rules and regulations, I cannot.
The club has been in continuous
operation for the last fifteen years
and is a member of the National
Association of Investment Clubs.
Member clubs are currently active
in most states of the U.S. Our club
may be best described as a social
group with serious interest… It’s
investment portfolio!
Any resident can attend our
meeting, which will be held on
Tuesday December 11 at 7:30 p.m.
in the Coleridge Lounge. Lev will