{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/ng4gm83n4x/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Bernstein, Matthew"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/082/original/TheBreman_SecondaryMark_Horizontal_Blue_Black.png?1713640889","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2025-10-28 (captured)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Bernstein, Matthew (Interviewee)","Halpern, Gilbert (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["Video"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum","Esther and Herbert Taylor Oral History Collection","Jewish Oral History Project of Atlanta"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eMatthew Bernstein was interviewed by Gilbert Halpern on October 28, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.\u003c/p\u003e (general)","\u003cp\u003e            Matthew H. Bernstein, a native of Great Neck, New York, is the Goodrich C. White Professor of Film and Media at Emory University, where he teaches courses on film history and criticism. He is the author of “Screening a Lynching: The Leo Frank Case on Film and Television” (2009), and “Walter Wanger, Hollywood Independent” (1994; 2004), a biography of a major producer in the classical era.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe editor or co-editor of four anthologies on topics ranging from John Ford westerns to film censorship, Bernstein is a two-time recipient of NEH research grants as well as teaching and scholarship awards from the prestigious Society for Cinema and Media Studies. From 1998 to 2020, he hosted the popular Atlanta Cinema Club. He has served in leadership roles in the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival since 2006. From 2005 to 2020, he served on the National Film Preservation Board, advising the Librarian of Congress on matters of preservation as well as films to add to the National Film Registry. He is currently co-writing a history of the Columbia Pictures studio and a study of Atlanta film culture in the segregated era.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew earned his B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MFA from Columbia University.  He and his wife, Natalie, the former elementary school librarian at the Paideia School, moved to Atlanta in 1989. They are proud parents of two sons residing in Amsterdam and Atlanta. Members of The Temple, they love to travel, especially to film festivals, or curl up with a good bottle of wine and binge watch.\u003c/p\u003e (bioghist)","\u003cp\u003e            This interview covers Matthew Bernstein’s life; from growing up in Great Neck, New York, his family, his college years and meeting his wife to becoming the Goodrich C. White Professor of Film and Media.  In this interview Matthew frequently reflects on different films and how they were impacted and affected society.  \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe comments on the famous comedians who lived in Great Neck, NY, the area where he grew up.  Bernstein mentions his parents being from Brooklyn, NY and shares that they both lost their mothers at a young age.  He discusses his father and grandfather building a business started by his great grandfather delivering heating products from coal to oil over the years.  He mentions that both his brothers, after starting out in different careers, work for his father’s business.   He talks about his mother supporting her father by being a homemaker, hosting social gatherings, and tending to the children. He speaks of how neither parent finished college at first, his father due to serving in WWII.  He states that his mother was able to get her bachelors and master’s degree when he was a child.  Matthew discusses how this influenced his decision to become an educator, as he had been brought to classes by his mother and seen her become educator and administrator.  He discusses another factor that had great influence on him, his first “real” job, working for his father’s company in the oil terminal; difficult, manual labor type work that really changed his life.  \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew reflects on how his parents love of education, the arts, and theater shaped him into the person he is today.   He recounts that their close proximity to NYC enabled them to attend many Broadway shows, ballets, and plays.  He expressed that his high school and summer camps also played a role as he was involved in theater groups there.  \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew talks about growing up with a Jewish upbringing.  He spoke about how his parents were very active in the federation and in the two synagogues that they belonged to. He shares that his parents instilled the concept of Tikkun Olam to him and his siblings. He mentions that he and his wife, a converted Jew by choice, belong to and are enthusiastic members of The Temple in Atlanta. He spoke about his boys being raised Jewish and both being bar Mitzvah, but that neither of them is currently active in a synagogue. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew reminisces about meeting his wife at a summer program at Oxford.  He discusses their miscues early in their friendship and how she had a bad impression of him. He talks about how they were finally truly able to know each other and how they decided that they wanted to be together and make it work, despite a 2-year long-distance relationship.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew describes the values and beliefs that he and his wife, a former librarian at the Paideia school, have tried to teach to their children.  He mentions Tikkun Olam, education and the importance of reading, the rewards of travel, especially abroad, and the importance of humor. He shares letters that his boys wrote to him of what values they thought they had learned from their parents.  Matthew mentions how his own parents were people of such positive attitudes; adventurous and optimistic. He talks about his sons and their jobs, one as a professor of bioethics and philosophy, the other a classical bassist who lays for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as well as other orchestras in the south. He expressed how proud he and his wife are of their children with their successes in careers as well as personal life; one of their sons is also married with a daughter. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew details how movies have been integral in his life.  He talks about his first date with his wife and the movie they went to, his mother reflecting on her childhood by relating it to a movie, learning concepts of movie making by the movies that his parents took him to and explaining it to him. He details his siblings and friends giving him memorable experiences by taking him to his first R rated film, sneaking him out of the house to see a movie, hearing a curse word for the first time in a film. He reflects that his children are interested in film, but on a much more casual basis than he is.  \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew spoke of belonging to the Plaza Theater Foundation Board as well as his participation with the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF).  He discusses his changing roles at the AJFF over the years, such as leading orientation sessions for the selection committee, being a part of the selection committee, and being secretary of the Board. He mentions a main goal of his for films is having people understand the difference between “I like a film” and “it’s a good film”.  He details how he often uses the classic film Citizen Kane to teach the distinction.  Matthew talks more about Orson Welles, the movies he made, and a book that was written about Citizen Kane.  Matthew provides further detail on his many roles with the AJFF and expresses how much he enjoys being a part of it, seeing how much it has grown, and seeing his own additions come to life, such as the AJFF on Campus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew remembers his family making home movies as a child; a video of his parent’s wedding vow renewal, the bar and bat mitzvahs of the kids.  He recollects making his own movies a time or two.  He comments that he made other films for filmmaking classes, but that he realized he didn’t want to work in production. He reflects on the importance of learning as many aspects of film making as possible for his job as an analyst, as it gives a whole other insight into the process.  \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew shares that his main area of research is the history of Hollywood and Hollywood’s classical era; how the business practices in Hollywood and artistic traditions influence the style, form, and meanings of film.  He discusses the first book he wrote about classical Hollywood era producer Walter Wanger and lists many of the movies that he produced. He details what it meant to be a producer in that era and describes many producers and their way of working.  He expresses his feelings that production history is the most fascinating part of film history; that making any movie is like a minor miracle, and a great movie extraordinary due to the thousands upon thousands of decisions that all have to come together to make a film.  He talks about how the role of censors and societal and political attitudes shaped films. He recollects how these ideas played a role in writing his second book; looking at how the Leo Frank case was portrayed in 4 different stories, 2 from the 1930’s, 1 from the 1960’s, and 1 from the 1980’s. Matthew describes different movies and stars, such as Mae West, that were affected by the censors of their time; how people in different parts of the country would see different versions of films depending on the censor in their state or town.  He mentions the backlash to the censorship as well, that people were upset having one person in control of what they could see after just defeating fascists and authoritarian regimes in the war.  He recollects that censorship started to be loosened and movies were considered to have first amendment protections in the 1950’s.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew spoke of his thoughts on films going digital, his positive views on it for the access it gives to anybody who wants to be a filmmaker and its affordability compared to celluloid reels of 35mm.  He explains the process of how all films are now digitized for mass distribution to theaters, even though some films, at directors’ preference, are still shot in 35mm. He talks about the different technologies used in film, such as three strip Technicolor, and whether or not they are still in use today.  Matthew expresses his belief that the new trend of streaming will not doom the big movie theater, instead they may have to change their ways of operating; that small independent theaters may have more long-term viability. He also shares his thoughts that Hollywood will remain the movie capital of the world, despite many films shooting in other locations. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew mentions local Atlanta people in the film and movie theater industry Chis Escobar and George Lefont.  He expresses his admiration for them both.  He talks about hosting and moderating the Atlanta Cinema Club for people to come see and discuss films that had not yet opened in Atlanta.  He spoke of how he participated in this from about 1998 until 2020 when they had to stop because of COVID.  He shares his desire to restart the club.  He mentions that he has never solely produced a film, but has executive produced 2 films, one about bringing Fiddler on the Roof to the big screen.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e            Matthew details his career at Emory University, starting as one of 3 faculty in film, a part of the theater department at the time.  He describes how he and other faculty were able to grow, over the years, adding multiple majors and minors in film, media studies, and film and media management.  He shares that Emory initiated a production program for its students. He compliments the administration and the dean’s office of Emory for being willing to invest in their endeavors.  He mentions that if he were to give advice to people wanting to get into filmmaking it would be to make as many films as possible, be on the crew, set production, learn about blocking; and write, starting with short stories.  \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew delves into adaptations of movies; his fascination of examining the different choices of different directors; he notes that one of his favorites is the adaptation of Sense and Sensibility with the screenplay of Emma Thompson and how she worked the story to make it more comprehensible to a modern audience.  He spoke of the director Ang Lee being a wonderful pairing for the movie, as Ang Lee’ films are almost always about restraint of emotion, as is reflective of the time period.  Matthew expresses that he finds films to be the most powerful mass medium we have; it has great reach and influence and it brings us better understanding of human psychology and the world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew talks about having a home theater and his own extensive collection of movies on DVD and Blu-ray as well as 16mm projectors for celluloid films.  He states that he does have a favorite film, The Rules of the Game by Jean Renoir. He reflects on the classic structure of the film; how there is not a shot or a moment that is not perfect.  He describes Renoir as a master of editing; the film as a work of social criticism; and Renoir’s humanity and his love for his characters, no matter how badly they behave.\u003c/p\u003e (scope content)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, recorded by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written consent of the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum.\u003c/p\u003e"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eMatthew Bernstein was interviewed by Gilbert Halpern on October 28, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Matthew H. Bernstein, a native of Great Neck, New York, is the Goodrich C. White Professor of Film and Media at Emory University, where he teaches courses on film history and criticism. He is the author of \u0026ldquo;Screening a Lynching: The Leo Frank Case on Film and Television\u0026rdquo; (2009), and \u0026ldquo;Walter Wanger, Hollywood Independent\u0026rdquo; (1994; 2004), a biography of a major producer in the classical era.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe editor or co-editor of four anthologies on topics ranging from John Ford westerns to film censorship, Bernstein is a two-time recipient of NEH research grants as well as teaching and scholarship awards from the prestigious Society for Cinema and Media Studies. From 1998 to 2020, he hosted the popular Atlanta Cinema Club. He has served in leadership roles in the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival since 2006. From 2005 to 2020, he served on the National Film Preservation Board, advising the Librarian of Congress on matters of preservation as well as films to add to the National Film Registry. He is currently co-writing a history of the Columbia Pictures studio and a study of Atlanta film culture in the segregated era.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew earned his B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MFA from Columbia University. \u0026nbsp;He and his wife, Natalie, the former elementary school librarian at the Paideia School, moved to Atlanta in 1989. They are proud parents of two sons residing in Amsterdam and Atlanta. Members of The Temple, they love to travel, especially to film festivals, or curl up with a good bottle of wine and binge watch.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; This interview covers Matthew Bernstein\u0026rsquo;s life; from growing up in Great Neck, New York, his family, his college years and meeting his wife to becoming the Goodrich C. White Professor of Film and Media. \u0026nbsp;In this interview Matthew frequently reflects on different films and how they were impacted and affected society. \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe comments on the famous comedians who lived in Great Neck, NY, the area where he grew up. \u0026nbsp;Bernstein mentions his parents being from Brooklyn, NY and shares that they both lost their mothers at a young age. \u0026nbsp;He discusses his father and grandfather building a business started by his great grandfather delivering heating products from coal to oil over the years. \u0026nbsp;He mentions that both his brothers, after starting out in different careers, work for his father\u0026rsquo;s business. \u0026nbsp; He talks about his mother supporting her father by being a homemaker, hosting social gatherings, and tending to the children. He speaks of how neither parent finished college at first, his father due to serving in WWII. \u0026nbsp;He states that his mother was able to get her bachelors and master\u0026rsquo;s degree when he was a child. \u0026nbsp;Matthew discusses how this influenced his decision to become an educator, as he had been brought to classes by his mother and seen her become educator and administrator. \u0026nbsp;He discusses another factor that had great influence on him, his first \u0026ldquo;real\u0026rdquo; job, working for his father\u0026rsquo;s company in the oil terminal; difficult, manual labor type work that really changed his life. \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew reflects on how his parents love of education, the arts, and theater shaped him into the person he is today. \u0026nbsp; He recounts that their close proximity to NYC enabled them to attend many Broadway shows, ballets, and plays. \u0026nbsp;He expressed that his high school and summer camps also played a role as he was involved in theater groups there. \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew talks about growing up with a Jewish upbringing. \u0026nbsp;He spoke about how his parents were very active in the federation and in the two synagogues that they belonged to. He shares that his parents instilled the concept of Tikkun Olam to him and his siblings. He mentions that he and his wife, a converted Jew by choice, belong to and are enthusiastic members of The Temple in Atlanta. He spoke about his boys being raised Jewish and both being bar Mitzvah, but that neither of them is currently active in a synagogue.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew reminisces about meeting his wife at a summer program at Oxford. \u0026nbsp;He discusses their miscues early in their friendship and how she had a bad impression of him. He talks about how they were finally truly able to know each other and how they decided that they wanted to be together and make it work, despite a 2-year long-distance relationship.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew describes the values and beliefs that he and his wife, a former librarian at the Paideia school, have tried to teach to their children. \u0026nbsp;He mentions Tikkun Olam, education and the importance of reading, the rewards of travel, especially abroad, and the importance of humor. He shares letters that his boys wrote to him of what values they thought they had learned from their parents. \u0026nbsp;Matthew mentions how his own parents were people of such positive attitudes; adventurous and optimistic. He talks about his sons and their jobs, one as a professor of bioethics and philosophy, the other a classical bassist who lays for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as well as other orchestras in the south. He expressed how proud he and his wife are of their children with their successes in careers as well as personal life; one of their sons is also married with a daughter.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew details how movies have been integral in his life. \u0026nbsp;He talks about his first date with his wife and the movie they went to, his mother reflecting on her childhood by relating it to a movie, learning concepts of movie making by the movies that his parents took him to and explaining it to him. He details his siblings and friends giving him memorable experiences by taking him to his first R rated film, sneaking him out of the house to see a movie, hearing a curse word for the first time in a film. He reflects that his children are interested in film, but on a much more casual basis than he is. \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew spoke of belonging to the Plaza Theater Foundation Board as well as his participation with the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF). \u0026nbsp;He discusses his changing roles at the AJFF over the years, such as leading orientation sessions for the selection committee, being a part of the selection committee, and being secretary of the Board. He mentions a main goal of his for films is having people understand the difference between \u0026ldquo;I like a film\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;it\u0026rsquo;s a good film\u0026rdquo;. \u0026nbsp;He details how he often uses the classic film Citizen Kane to teach the distinction. \u0026nbsp;Matthew talks more about Orson Welles, the movies he made, and a book that was written about Citizen Kane. \u0026nbsp;Matthew provides further detail on his many roles with the AJFF and expresses how much he enjoys being a part of it, seeing how much it has grown, and seeing his own additions come to life, such as the AJFF on Campus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew remembers his family making home movies as a child; a video of his parent\u0026rsquo;s wedding vow renewal, the bar and bat mitzvahs of the kids. \u0026nbsp;He recollects making his own movies a time or two. \u0026nbsp;He comments that he made other films for filmmaking classes, but that he realized he didn\u0026rsquo;t want to work in production. He reflects on the importance of learning as many aspects of film making as possible for his job as an analyst, as it gives a whole other insight into the process. \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew shares that his main area of research is the history of Hollywood and Hollywood\u0026rsquo;s classical era; how the business practices in Hollywood and artistic traditions influence the style, form, and meanings of film. \u0026nbsp;He discusses the first book he wrote about classical Hollywood era producer Walter Wanger and lists many of the movies that he produced. He details what it meant to be a producer in that era and describes many producers and their way of working. \u0026nbsp;He expresses his feelings that production history is the most fascinating part of film history; that making any movie is like a minor miracle, and a great movie extraordinary due to the thousands upon thousands of decisions that all have to come together to make a film. \u0026nbsp;He talks about how the role of censors and societal and political attitudes shaped films. He recollects how these ideas played a role in writing his second book; looking at how the Leo Frank case was portrayed in 4 different stories, 2 from the 1930\u0026rsquo;s, 1 from the 1960\u0026rsquo;s, and 1 from the 1980\u0026rsquo;s. Matthew describes different movies and stars, such as Mae West, that were affected by the censors of their time; how people in different parts of the country would see different versions of films depending on the censor in their state or town. \u0026nbsp;He mentions the backlash to the censorship as well, that people were upset having one person in control of what they could see after just defeating fascists and authoritarian regimes in the war. \u0026nbsp;He recollects that censorship started to be loosened and movies were considered to have first amendment protections in the 1950\u0026rsquo;s.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew spoke of his thoughts on films going digital, his positive views on it for the access it gives to anybody who wants to be a filmmaker and its affordability compared to celluloid reels of 35mm. \u0026nbsp;He explains the process of how all films are now digitized for mass distribution to theaters, even though some films, at directors\u0026rsquo; preference, are still shot in 35mm. He talks about the different technologies used in film, such as three strip Technicolor, and whether or not they are still in use today. \u0026nbsp;Matthew expresses his belief that the new trend of streaming will not doom the big movie theater, instead they may have to change their ways of operating; that small independent theaters may have more long-term viability. He also shares his thoughts that Hollywood will remain the movie capital of the world, despite many films shooting in other locations.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew mentions local Atlanta people in the film and movie theater industry Chis Escobar and George Lefont. \u0026nbsp;He expresses his admiration for them both. \u0026nbsp;He talks about hosting and moderating the Atlanta Cinema Club for people to come see and discuss films that had not yet opened in Atlanta. \u0026nbsp;He spoke of how he participated in this from about 1998 until 2020 when they had to stop because of COVID. \u0026nbsp;He shares his desire to restart the club. \u0026nbsp;He mentions that he has never solely produced a film, but has executive produced 2 films, one about bringing Fiddler on the Roof to the big screen.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Matthew details his career at Emory University, starting as one of 3 faculty in film, a part of the theater department at the time. \u0026nbsp;He describes how he and other faculty were able to grow, over the years, adding multiple majors and minors in film, media studies, and film and media management. \u0026nbsp;He shares that Emory initiated a production program for its students. He compliments the administration and the dean\u0026rsquo;s office of Emory for being willing to invest in their endeavors. \u0026nbsp;He mentions that if he were to give advice to people wanting to get into filmmaking it would be to make as many films as possible, be on the crew, set production, learn about blocking; and write, starting with short stories. \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew delves into adaptations of movies; his fascination of examining the different choices of different directors; he notes that one of his favorites is the adaptation of Sense and Sensibility with the screenplay of Emma Thompson and how she worked the story to make it more comprehensible to a modern audience. \u0026nbsp;He spoke of the director Ang Lee being a wonderful pairing for the movie, as Ang Lee\u0026rsquo; films are almost always about restraint of emotion, as is reflective of the time period. \u0026nbsp;Matthew expresses that he finds films to be the most powerful mass medium we have; it has great reach and influence and it brings us better understanding of human psychology and the world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew talks about having a home theater and his own extensive collection of movies on DVD and Blu-ray as well as 16mm projectors for celluloid films. \u0026nbsp;He states that he does have a favorite film, The Rules of the Game by Jean Renoir. He reflects on the classic structure of the film; how there is not a shot or a moment that is not perfect. \u0026nbsp;He describes Renoir as a master of editing; the film as a work of social criticism; and Renoir\u0026rsquo;s humanity and his love for his characters, no matter how badly they behave.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, recorded by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written consent of the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/082/original/TheBreman_SecondaryMark_Horizontal_Blue_Black.png?1713640889","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/298/483/small/Bernstein_Michael.mp4_1765329962.jpg?1765329968","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - Bernstein__Michael.mp4"]},"duration":6905.02279,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/298/483/small/Bernstein_Michael.mp4_1765329962.jpg?1765329968","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-thebreman.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/298/483/original/Bernstein__Michael.mp4?1765329951","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":6905.02279,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Bernstein, Michael [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e My name is Gilbert Halpern and today is October the 28th, 2025. I would like to thank Dr. Matthew Bernstein for participating in the Esther and Herbert Taylor Oral History Project of the William Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum. Dr. Bernstein is the Professor and Chair of Film Studies at Emory University.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=0.0,25.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Oh, so I'm not chair.  I'm no longer chair.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=25.0,31.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Okay, I'm glad you said something. Because the thought police would be...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=31.0,35.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e My title is, if you want to get this exactly right, I have a named chair, which is a great honor.  It's the Goodrich C. White Professor of Film and Media.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=35.0,47.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e One moment please. The Goodrich.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=47.0,51.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Goodrich like the tire. C. White. I'm the former chair of the department if you want to keep that in, but my current chair would not appreciate this.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=51.0,71.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Good point.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=71.0,72.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Actually, she wouldn't care.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=72.0,72.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e So, you are the... Let me back up here; alright so you're the Goodrich C. White.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=72.0,81.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Professor of Film and Media.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=81.0,96.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Okay, should we start from the top?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=96.0,98.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Sure.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=98.0,100.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Okay, let's just do it.  A little bit more, it'll flow easier maybe. My name is Gilbert Halpern, and today is October 28th, 2025. I would like to thank Dr. Matthew Bernstein for participating in the Esther and Herbert Taylor Oral History Project of the William Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum. Dr. Bernstein is the Goodrich C. White Professor of Film and Media at Emory University. Well, Matthew, we'll start with the basics. Where were you born?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=100.0,135.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I was born in New York City.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=135.0,138.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Were you brought up there?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=138.0,139.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e No, I was brought up in a suburb on Long Island called Great Neck. That was a very, mostly affluent, mostly Jewish town. Most famous for the people who lived there. F. Scott Fitzgerald lived there and was inspired by the geography to talk about, the geography used in. Okay, let me start up. So Great Neck was a mostly affluent, mostly Jewish town. It's about, depending on who's driving, it's about an hour and 15 minutes east of New York City. If my mother's driving I was 45 minutes on the Long Island Expressway.  It's most famous for the literati who live there, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, who used the geography of the North Shore of Long Island around Great Necks and Kings Point for The Great Gatsby.  Also, a string of famous Jewish comedians lived there. Groucho Marx was there, a great getaway from work on Broadway and in films when sound came in. Another would be Sid Caesar of Your Show of Shows. Alan King.  Andy Kaufman was born and raised in Great Neck. In fact, my mother knew his family. That was Great Neck, and it was a great town. It had first-rate public schools, and I went through them. I attended Great Neck North.  It was just a wonderful, wonderful place for me to grow up.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=139.0,254.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Where did you go to college?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=254.0,256.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I went to college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I was an undergraduate there.  I majored in English, so that's where I decided I wanted to become a film professor.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=256.0,268.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Where were your parents from?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=268.0,270.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e My parents were from Brooklyn. They were high school sweethearts. My father went off to serve in World War II. He was stationed in India, I think, helping the Air Force with plane trips, plane missions to East Asia. They waited 'til he got back and they got married. So yeah, that's where they grew up, Brooklyn. They were both, interestingly, or very sadly, both of them lost their mothers when they were relatively young. My mother when she was 13, my father when he was about 21 or so. After he got back from the war, there was a big issue of how to schedule the wedding as they couldn't really have a full wedding because his mother was dying. I think that's affected their personalities a lot.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=270.0,331.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Where were your grandparents from?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=331.0,333.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I don't know. I've heard Brest-Litovsk, I've heard somewhere in Poland on my mother's side, but you know I would ask my paternal grandfather about his upbringing and his past and he just didn't want to talk about it. He was a first-generation American and I'd say tell me about your father and he said his name was Throckmorton and he was a horse thief. So, and I accepted that. I was not trained in journalistic inquiry. I did not persist in asking him. And on my mother's side, I don't know either, but he was first generation American.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=333.0,374.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e What did your parents do for a living?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=374.0,376.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e My dad joined his father. My grandfather, Samuel Bernstein, took over a coal and ice delivery company from his father in 1917; several thousand dollars in debt, which was a big deal then. He delivered coal and ice to Brooklyn and the Bronx and Manhattan. After World War II, they switched, at some point, they ditched the ice because refrigerators were more common. They stayed with delivering heating products and switched to oil at some point in the ‘30s or ‘40s, or maybe it was even the 1950s. So, they were distributing oil around New York City. My father had the idea after World War II, that he perceived that Long Island was going to become a major developed community. You know, a bunch of towns, this is where Levittown was situated, and he foresaw the need for a pipeline to run along the length of Long Island.  He was able to build that and become the major distributor of oil on Long Island.  Everyone thought he was crazy, including his father, my grandfather. He was like, what are you doing? What is this, right? But that proved very successful. He was head of an oil distribution company that also further built a pipeline across Panama in the 1980’s so that, [for example] Alaskan crew-ed ships would not have to go all the way south around Latin America but could actually cut through and get the oil to Europe.  He was a really brilliant businessman, really brilliant thinker, really a visionary. My mom, you know, raised five children. I am the youngest of five children, and that wasn't enough for her because when I was little, she actually said, “what do you think if we adopt a child”?  I was seven or eight at the time, and I was like, no, I want all this attention on me. I don't want to share the limelight. She was a community activist. She was chair of the Great Neck Public Library Board for many, many years, and active in a variety of charities.  Her story is very interesting as well because she never, neither of my parents, went to college. My father had one year of college at the University of Vermont and then had to go serve in World War II. My mother had never gotten to go to college; she was busy raising children. At age 50, she earned a degree from Queens College in education and went further and got a master's degree in education.  She always considered this the major decision of her life after marrying my father because it just totally opened her up to the world of ideas and learning and so forth. She was going to college and grad school while I was a teenager.  My mother being my mother, she would drag me along to classes, especially about Shakespeare, which she adored. She loved Shakespeare, thought Shakespeare could speak to everyone about our humanity, if we would listen.  It's not surprising I chose to be an educator. I also have an older brother who was an English professor for a while. This is just part of the values they taught us growing up. Education, the importance of education. There are many more. But anyway, you were asking about my mother.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=376.0,616.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Did she work at all or help at all in the business?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=616.0,619.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e No. She helped in supporting my father in a very material way, concrete way, creating a family, creating a home.  That was a full-time job. They were very socially active in Great Neck. They had a ton of friends. They hosted dinner parties and everything else. So, she did that work. She became an educator herself. She was working at Queens, actually, as an administrator, not a teacher. In 1985, she organized a then very controversial conference on homosexuality and the AIDS virus and how it affects families. In 1985, people are like: What are you doing? This is crazy! But she did that. Then she fell in love with the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. You have the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, you have dance at Jacob's Pillow, and there was a Shakespeare Company there, there still is. These are all still there, obviously, which perform mostly Shakespeare. She started leading tours called Backstage at the Berkshires, where mostly New Yorkers would come, attend performances, and then talk with the artists afterwards.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=619.0,709.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Is it safe to assume that you enjoyed those types of venues to go to?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=709.0,717.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes, and, you know, we need to talk about the values that our parents taught me and my siblings. One of them was a love for the arts.  I mentioned education. I mean, my parents were always reading, always up on current events, so on and so forth. But a love of the performing arts was really important to my upbringing. And because we lived only, again, maybe 45 minutes from Manhattan, there was a period of time where one of my older sisters and I would go with our parents into New York. It was almost weekly. We saw Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn dance Swan Lake with the Royal Ballet and other ballets. We would just go week after week and just major standing ovations. They took me to plays. I saw Robert Ryan in a revival of The Front Page. I saw Eva Le Galliene in a revival of The Royal family of Broadway.  Most memorable and most joyous in my memory was a production of Hello, Dolly! starring Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway. It was an all-black cast and that was extraordinary.  I studied classical piano with their insistence. I attended young people's concerts that Leonard Bernstein was, I mean, so I got a total immersion in the world of the arts. Opera I resisted. Thanks to the Atlanta Opera, I am now an opera fan. But it was all of these arts and appreciating them. That obviously had another major influence on me, was another major influence on me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=717.0,834.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Backing up for just a moment, were any of your siblings involved with your dad's business? Any of them help out?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=834.0,842.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes, my two brothers, eventually the brother who had been a professor, Gene Bernstein, he joined the family business. My other brother, Jay started working for my father after a stint as an attorney, so yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=842.0,861.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e What are your siblings doing today?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=861.0,867.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Well, they're both still working at the company. I have a sister, Donna, who's very involved in tennis for disabled players on Long Island. She loved tennis as we were growing up and is able to put her passion to work in this way. The sibling closest to me, my sister, Linda, the one who I went to all these arts events with, with my parents. She's a mom with two kids and she is now working as a producer. She co-produces shows on Broadway. So, it's really come full circle for her. She aspired to be an actress in her 20s and then after raising her children found this. She has a couple Tony's that she's won for various productions that she has been involved in.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=867.0,927.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e You mentioned Leonard Bernstein. Is there any family connection?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=927.0,930.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e There's no family connection to Leonard Bernstein, but one of the things I'm grateful to my Hebrew high school for was taking me with a group of students to meet him. We were invited to attend a rehearsal with Mr. Provich, the great Russian cellist, of Tchaikovsky's Symphony Number Four. After attending that rehearsal, he came out in his bathrobe with his long cigarette and talked to us for about a half hour and the key message he gave us was: this world is pretty screwed up but you, the youth, you give me hope. You're going to figure it out.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=930.0,975.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Did you participate in any Jewish activities in your youth?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=975.0,979.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yeah, I didn't go to camp, Jewish camp. I went to camps with lots of Jews. I was actually [in] performing arts with, again, the Hebrew high school. I was a drummer, as well as a pianist. I played drums for a temple touring edition of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, which was an early musical following Jesus Christ Superstar by Tim Rice, and what's his name, the great musical Phantom of the Opera.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=979.0,1019.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Lloyd.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1019.0,1022.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Andrew.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1022.0,1023.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Lloyd.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1023.0,1024.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Lloyd Webber, thank you. Yeah, so we did that. That was kind of fun. We played in Harrisburg and a couple of other towns. That was great. Also, I was cast in a Paddy Chayefsky play called Gideon and the director was very innovative. That is Hebrew high school. It was at Temple Israel in Great Neck and it was incredibly innovative. They offer courses on culture, like Franz Kafka. I remember for a research report bringing in an album by Shelley Berman, where he does this 20-minute routine. You know, it's Franz Kafka on the telephone. That was a big hit. But in any case, the director conceived of Gideon. It's about Gideon's relationship to God.  This director saw that relationship in the play shifting in different acts.  It was Comrade, God as a Lover. I can't remember what the third one was. We had three different actors playing God. They cast me as Gideon. That was a big deal to be in the lead role of that play. That was really fantastic.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1024.0,1103.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e As a child, did you have a job?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1103.0,1107.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Actually, let me say a little bit more about...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1107.0,1109.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Of course.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1109.0,1110.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Jewish upbringing. Our family belonged to two synagogues. One was not enough, especially for my mom. My mom had been an aspiring singer, and she sang in temple choirs and musicals put on at the temples. One was Temple Israel. It was a conservative synagogue in Great Neck lead at the time by the great Rabbi Mordecai Waxman. Then also at Temple Beth-El, which was down the street, it was a reform temple.  It was led by Jerome Davidson, who was also a great innovator.  I was mostly a Temple Israel, my older siblings were at Temple Beth-El, but there was that. My parents were very, very active in Jewish causes. My father was president of Temple Israel several times over. They were very active in the Federation; they were honored by the Federation. You know, as I mentioned, my mother was involved in the Sisterhood and in performing. So, it was a very Jewish infused life that I grew up with. Camp was the only piece that was missing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1110.0,1191.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Well did you did you have a job or responsibilities as a child?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1191.0,1195.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e The most important","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1195.0,1207.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e His microphone fell off of him.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1207.0,1207.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I must start gesticulating mildly, and it falls off. OK. Let's give this another try.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1207.0,1216.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e What's the great Broadway play. You must gesticulate.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1216.0,1222.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e That's, um, I don't know.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1222.0,1225.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e I'll think of it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1225.0,1227.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I think of Singin’ in the Rain.  Enunciate the vowels!","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1227.0,1232.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e No, he's going to get his hands cut off explaining to the Wazir why he can't have his hands cut off. We are editing a lot of this right out. Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1232.0,1243.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e How do I sound? Do I sound okay? The most important job I had, I had a couple of jobs growing up, but the most important was working one summer at an oil terminal in Flushing, New York. This was a real kind of work-a-day manual labor kind of work. This was a place where trucks would come load up on oil and then deliver them out into the city.  I was involved a lot with the upkeep and making sure equipment worked properly.   I was getting up at six in the morning, I was going to work at six in morning and working until four.  It was a real, real job not like babysitting not like pizza delivery that really taught me a lot about responsibility and the dignity of work.  My parents modeled that, my older siblings modeled that. But that experience really changed my life.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1243.0,1311.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Do you feel working there because it was the family business that you worked harder maybe than the others in the company?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1311.0,1318.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I was determined to work as hard as I could and learn as much as I could.  There was a man there, Dick Diffley, who sort of took me under his wing to show me, and tell me, and often insult me, about the job I'd done. No, it was a terrific experience.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1318.0,1341.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e How did you meet your spouse?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1341.0,1344.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I love talking about how I met my wonderful wife, Natalie. We met at a summer English literature program in Oxford, England. We met; she was at Georgetown. I was at the UW Madison. It was the summer of our sophomore year, after our sophomore a year. It was a six-week program run by the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It was very high quality. They brought in top Shakespeare scholars, a former head of the BBC to lecture. She and I were in a class on T.S. Eliot together that was taught by the great Christopher Ricks, who is now better known for his studies of Bob Dylan. We did not really start talking to each other until halfway through the program. She unfortunately, had a perception of me as being a superficial, playboy type, of not taking my studies seriously, which was not true at all. I worked very hard. I wrote some good papers; my tutor really liked them.  One night I was coming back from a pub with another woman in the program and we were locked out at Trinity College. Natalie happens to be coming by carrying all these library books, and we're like, Natalie, how do we get in? Can you help us? So that made a bad impression. But something happened midway, something very unfortunate. A friend of ours had to leave, a mutual friend had to leave because her mother had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The vacuum that created gave us an opportunity to start talking to each other and really learning how much we had in common, a lot of the same, besides being anglophiles and Francophiles, just the passion for literature and all these things that we had in common. Natalie is from just outside of Orlando, Florida. Winter Park. I'm from Long Island. That's how we met, but we only have three weeks together. When we came back to the States, we agreed we just wanted to be together. We went through two years of long-distance relationship and then we were able to live together after we graduated college.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1344.0,1499.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e But you did have mutual interests.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1499.0,1502.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Oh, we had many mutual interests. Absolutely. Travel, culture, as I said, literature.  Natalie always liked films. Funny side note, our first movie on a date was Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris, the X-rated film, because I'd always wanted to see it and it was playing at an Oxford theater. But it was really funny with that experience because there were a bunch of local lads at the screening.  It's a very unusual theater design. The bathrooms were the front of the theater, behind the screen.  You could watch people, you know, you could see if people were going in. I mean, there's plenty to watch on the screen, but whenever there was like an intense erotic scene, one of them would go into the bathroom and start retching like they were throwing up, which completely destroyed the spell, any spell that film would have had.  But yes, that was our first film.  anyway, she's watched a lot more films since we...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1502.0,1577.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e That's quite a picture that you just painted.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1577.0,1581.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e It's very memorable.  I remember many details about movie-going and seeing particular films. When I was talking about what my parents, their love of the arts, there was also their; I should have mentioned before, Tikkun Olam. My parents instilled us with values of being humble and being grateful, of valuing family. Of all these things of just feeling how fortunate we were as a family. And that strength, that emphasis on family also had to do with the fact that my mother, when she lost her mother at 13, had to move in with cousins and everybody had to get along. She felt compelled to get along because she and her father and brother were sort taken in by their cousins. And Brighton Beach Memoir, Memories, was, when she saw that she was like, this is just what it was like because it was two families living together. One of the daughters actually wants to be a Broadway performer. My mother was an aspiring singer I mentioned. She went to a singing contest somewhere in the city and won first prize and came home with $50 and her father was... “What did you do to get this money?” Because she hadn't told him she was going to do it. We talk about their love of the arts; movies were part of this also. I grew up going to the movies with them. I remember them taking me to see Lawrence of Arabia, it was the first time I processed as a child a flashback, because it starts with his death and his funeral and then goes back. What is that? That's film language I didn't understand, I remember my mother explaining it to me. They took me to 2001 with a friend. After the first half, we were just running around the theater. We couldn't stay with it. My father took me to a James Bond triple feature at our local cinema and that was an important experience because I saw the formula. I wouldn't have remembered what the formula was, film to film, at that young age, but I saw pre-credit action sequence, credit sequence, moving on. And that was like Ah, formula. My siblings are much older than, or not much, but they're a bit older than I am. They're 11, 10, nine, and six years older than me. In a certain way, they were also surrogate parents.  Jean and Jay and Donna and Linda, they reinforced all these values that my parents were instilling in me.  They also took me to memorable films that I recall. My eldest brother, Gene, took me to see The Godfather when that came out. He was living in Amherst. We had to drive to Springfield. The first Godfather film. We had drive to Springfield, Massachusetts to see it because it wasn't playing in Amherst. My brother, Jay, took to my first R-rated film. The Last Picture Show by Peter Bogdanovich. I was totally blown away, not just by the nudity, but just the artistry.  My sister Linda was an aspiring actress, singer. She snuck out with me when my parents had, I don't know, they just didn't want me to go out. But she snuck me out to see Funny Girl with her. Anyway, film was also part of the artistic mix, in terms of what my parents... And growing up in the 60s, I mean, going to the movies was just something we did with friends, not just with parents. I mean a major, major experience was seeing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which all my friends always got to see the movies before me. Everyone was just buzzing because the film was so great, but also it was the first time any of us had ever heard anyone say ‘shit’ in a film, right, when they jump off the cliff.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1581.0,1860.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e There's something to remember.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1860.0,1861.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yeah, I must have seen that two or three times, The Odd Couple two or three times. The Sting, because The Sting was very complicated two or three times so anyway, movie going was very much woven into my growing up.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1861.0,1873.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Backing up just for a moment to the James Bond trilogy that you watched, were they all in sequence?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1873.0,1880.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I think they were in chronological order, but of course you could walk in at any time and I just don't remember.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1880.0,1886.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Were they all Sean Connery?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1886.0,1888.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes. They were all Sean Connery. I remember Dr. No was one of them. I can't recall maybe Goldfinger. I only just recently saw Thunderball at the Turner Classic Movies Festival. They've just restored it. What a hilarious, hilarious film.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1888.0,1906.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Switching gears totally on you. Do you belong to a temple or synagogue?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1906.0,1911.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1911.0,1912.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Which one is that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1912.0,1912.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e So here, Natalie and I chose The Temple. Natalie's a Jew by choice. She converted just before our wedding. That's an interesting story in that, [Rabbi] Jerome Davidson was guiding us, he was at Temple Beth-El in Great Neck. When Natalie was ready, she'd learned Hebrew, she finished the course of study. He said, “I usually conduct conversion ceremonies in my office. I would like the community, the congregation, to see what a conversion ceremony looks like. Would you be willing to do this at Friday Night Services?”. Natalie, who was incredibly shy at the time, agreed.  The next thing we know, the Temple Beth-El bulletin front page is an invitation to a conversion. So, this place is, I don't know, four or 500 people, packed to see this ceremony. He gave this fire and brimstone speech about how dare we treat Jews by choice as second class Jews.  Of course, everybody wanted to congratulate Natalie at the door afterwards to show to the rabbi that they were not being discriminatory. Anyway, the reform synagogue was really where we felt most at home. I mean, I grew up mostly attending the conservative, always attending conservative services, but the reform movement was the first to embrace women as rabbis. I have to look this up. Temple Beth-El had the first ordained woman Cantor.  Let me find that, because I've forgotten her name. Yes. Temple Beth-El was the first synagogue to have a woman cantor, Barbara. Temple Beth-El was the first synagogue in the country to have a woman cantor, Barbara Ostfeld, whose voice was like honey. I mean it was just, everybody just, when she would chant.  I got my Ph.D... I went UW-Madison as an undergrad. I went to Columbia and got an MFA in film, and then realized I would get better training as a film historian back in Madison.  We joined a reform synagogue in Madison, and the rabbi there recommended The Temple when we moved to Atlanta. We've been very proud enthusiastic members of The Temple ever since.  I served a term on the board. I was co-chair of the membership committee. I participated, I was on a committee led by Lauren Green and gosh, what is her name? I can't believe I'm forgetting this. Sorry. Not a good night of sleep last night. Oh. There it is. Um, she's Jackie, Jackie, Jackie. What's Jackie's last name? Montag! Sorry. Anyway, I served a term on the board of The Temple. I was co-chair of the membership committee. I served on a special committee reviewing The Temple, led by Lauren Green and Jackie Montag. That was great and very rewarding work, but the thing I guess I'm proudest of was serving on the search committee for a new rabbi, which resulted in the hiring of Rabbi Peter Berg, who was just marvelous.  I have to say that Temple clergy right now is the A-Team. It is just fantastic from Cantor Tracy Sherr you know, onwards, just terrific.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=1912.0,2196.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e As a side note.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2196.0,2197.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2197.0,2198.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e There's a great book that I'm sure you've read about the bombing of The Temple.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2198.0,2203.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes. The Temple Bombing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2203.0,2205.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e The only reason I bring that up is because I think, as a historical document, it tells you so much about the greater Atlanta and the greater south, if you will. I wanted to put that on the record...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2205.0,2216.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes. Absolutely","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2216.0,2217.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e How important I thought that book was.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2217.0,2219.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Oh yeah, absolutely, essential reading.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2219.0,2222.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Are your children involved in Jewish activities?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2222.0,2224.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e They're not. They both became bar mitzvah. They both, I think, found it the most rewarding experience in their Jewish education. In fact, our younger son, Adam, when it was all over and we were driving home from brunch with out-of-town family said, \"can we do this again\"? So, there was that. They've each visited Israel. But they're more kind of culturally Jewish than observant; not attending synagogues.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2224.0,2257.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e So, what would you think is your most important influence on your children?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2257.0,2264.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Right, so here, I do need to read. Natalie and I have imparted many important values to our children, and they are many of the same values her parents and my parents taught us. There is the essential importance of education to begin with. I'm a college professor. Natalie, for 25 years, was the elementary school librarian at the Paideia School, getting kids to read. Teaching parents that whatever your child reads, it’s great, because it gets them in the habit, and they can move on from comic books to short stories and novels afterwards. Also, the dignity and the rewards of hard work and responsibility. That's an important value we've taught them. The rewards of travel around the country and especially abroad. We took them to England and to Sweden when they were relatively young. After I earned tenure at Emory, we took a five-week trip to France to celebrate, starting in the south, in Provence, and working our way up to Paris. On that trip, they were seven and eleven, so we bribed them with every other day trips to the patisseries so that they were sure to have a good time. We have tried to convey the importance of Tikkun Olam and giving back to the world and making the world a better place. Our older son, Justin, after he graduated from Vassar, elected to; he wanted to study philosophy in grad school, but he elected to work for two years as an English teacher in an inner-city junior high in Newark. He was at times the first white person his students had met, or the first Jewish person they had met. Adam, in high school, was an assistant to the great physical therapist, Clay White. Clay White had a program where he took autistic children and took them hiking in and around Sandy Springs.  Adam assisted with that. He was first a student in that program and then he became Clay White's assistant on it. We were very proud of them for doing that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2264.0,2440.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/85","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Do your children have families?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2440.0,2442.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/86","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Our older son, Justin, has a baby girl, Naomi Elaine, Elaine being my mother's name. Adam does not as yet. Something else really important that we taught them was humor, the importance of humor. They grew up listening to Monty Python on screen, on audio. David Sedaris. And of course, appreciation of the arts. I actually asked them, when you asked this question, what they would say they were taught.  Justin wrote me that I had taught him that being sensitive and kind are strengths, not weaknesses. Adam wrote: my answer would be that you showed us the meaning of strength, kindness and love through action and language. You've always been understanding, thoughtful, caring, and shared your love for the world around us. Whether through an appreciation of film, music, or family, you've always found the positive and shared that perspective without insistence.  These are both very moving statements.  Adam writes about a love for the world around us, this is another amazing characteristic of my parents. They were the most optimistic people I ever knew.  No problem, could go unsolved, couldn’t be solved. They embraced life with great zest. My father's second wife described him as being like a grown-up kid in a candy store, grabbing her by the hand and saying, come on, let's do this, let's explore this.  When he was 68; his second wife was a lifelong skier. He was a golfer, but he took up skiing. Not only did he take up skiing in Vail, he called us and said, you've got to bring your boys, you got to do this. This is, I think they were six and ten or something. My mother, at her 70th birthday celebration in one of the Florida Keys, went parasailing for the first time. They were very adventurous and they were very optimistic people. They were a very confident people and that also is just a value one can be raised with. I mean obviously there's chemistry and personality and so forth, but that was really important.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2442.0,2614.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/87","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Are your children interested in film?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2614.0,2617.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/88","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e They are film experts of sorts. They grew up, you know, we grew up showing them the best, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. In high school, they both became greatly enamored of Akira Kurosawa films and the samurai films. At a certain point, Seven Samurai had been restored and Linda Dubler at the High Museum, who had a film program back in the day, she did a Kurosawa actually, we did a joint Kurosawa series at Emory and at the High. There was a new restored print of Seven Samurai with new subtitles. Adam would turn to us, I think he was 11 or so, and say, “that's a new translation of this line of dialog”. So, they were very immersed in it.  Now they're kind of more casual consumers. They're as likely to watch a film because it's awful, so they can laugh at it as they are to watch, a really, really good film.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2617.0,2685.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/89","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Do you have any other volunteer activities than the ones like the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival that you're very involved with or the Tara Theater that you are involved with?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2685.0,2696.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/90","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I'm on the Plaza Theater Foundation Board, which raises money to help with the restoration of the Plaza Theater. Funds we've raised have helped to redo the marquee, redo the carpeting, the screen, the new seats. So that's great. I love working with Chris Escobar. The man is a genius.  The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is my main thing. It's been a great way for me to express my Jewishness.  Which reminds me, the other great thing I love about The Temple I want to get on record is that they do not tell you how to be Jewish. They show you ways you can be Jewish. That opening up of possibilities without insistence is a real key, I think, to its strength, and it's accepting ethos of everyone who wants to join the community. So yeah, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival I started, I joined in 2005. I was at the very first meeting in 2000, I just thought, I don't see how this is going to work and so forth.  I had a year off in 2005-2006, and I got involved with the festival then. To this day, I remain the only film professor who is involved in a sustained way.  I found that very rewarding. In the early years, I would do orientation sessions for the selection committee members.  One of the great strengths of the AJFF is that the selection is done by community members, not film experts. There may be film experts on the committees, but that's not what we're looking for. We're looking for a cross-section of the community and what films resonate with the community.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2696.0,2822.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/91","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Do you lead discussions of these films?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2822.0,2826.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/92","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I've been on the selection committee [but] I try to be very low-key about what I know and where I fit in.  I'm always interested in what other people think and have to say. As I say, I was leading orientation sessions about how to understand what makes a quality film and what doesn't, and that distinction between “I like a film” and “it's a good film”. So just to take a classic example of Citizen Kane. I teach Citizen Kane in my Intro. We all teach Citizen Kane. That is the one film all faculty teaching Intro at Emory agree on: we have to show Citizen Kane. Students don't always love Citizen Kane. It's kind of depressing. But I can say to them, you may not love this film, but at least you can see why people consider it the most innovative, possibly the greatest film of all time. So, getting the selection committee members to appreciate that distinction, the well-made film, beyond I didn't like this character.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2826.0,2902.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/93","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Well, that being said, I have to assume that Orson Welles, that that was his greatest accomplishment.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2902.0,2911.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/94","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yeah, I don't think there's any debate that that was the greatest film he made. However, you know, Touch of Evil, Chimes at Midnight, maybe The Lady from Shanghai. I know there are great fans of his Macbeth and Othello. Yeah, so there are a lot of contenders, but I agree with you. I think Citizen Kane, oh, Magnificent Ambersons has a lot, even though it's been mangled.  Welles' last third, I think, was taken over by the studio and cut and recut and so forth. Yeah, there are a lot of riches there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2911.0,2949.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/95","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e As I understand it, he was 25 years old when he made that film.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2949.0,2953.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/96","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e He was 25 years old when he made the film. It's very rare to have someone that young make such a sensational, innovative film. There's a marvelous book about it called The Making of Citizen Kane that goes through all the scripting, the production design, the cinematography by Gregg Toland, the deep focus, sound and post production. Interestingly there's one thing the book doesn't do is talk to anyone involved. There's no oral history with anyone, no interviews with any of the people who were involved.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2953.0,2987.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/97","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e It's probably too late now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2987.0,2989.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/98","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes, it is. It is.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2989.0,2992.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/99","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Did your family make home movies when you were a child?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2992.0,2996.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/100","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e My parents did, yeah. 16-millimeter movies. I mentioned that they had a very subdued wedding because my father's mother was dying when they got married and they had, I think 10 years later, a mock wedding. It's a kind of like substitute.  There were home movies of that. They commissioned, of course, home movies; not of course. They hired people to make films of a couple of the bar and bat mitzvahs of my older siblings.  I made a film or two also, it was 16-millimeter.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=2996.0,3033.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/101","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e About what age were you?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3033.0,3035.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/102","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I was probably 11 or 12, maybe I was 11. I don't know.  I can't remember what the assignment was, but my project was how to train your dog.  My mother was my cameraman, and I demonstrated visually all the ways to train our German shepherd. The commands, the rewards. Then I narrated. I was back to early cinema; the narrator was sitting by the screen.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3035.0,3060.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/103","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e So, you had sound.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3060.0,3062.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/104","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I didn't have sound. We only had a silent 16-mm camera.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3062.0,3070.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/105","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Wow, did you ever enter any competitions with any of your films?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3070.0,3075.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/106","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e No, that was the only one. I went to Columbia to get an MFA so I could take writing and filmmaking classes. Doing that, I realized I really didn't want to work in production. I just really... The 5 a.m. call in freezing Manhattan, you know, desperate for coffee, personalities on set. But I co-directed a 45-minute film from a student script in my second year at Columbia.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3075.0,3114.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/107","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Is it available on YouTube?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3114.0,3116.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/108","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Oh No, no, no. It's not something I would show.  It's something I'd watch, just for memories. We were using three-quarter inch video at that time. But that experience, all the production classes, that experience of making images, editing them together, working on sound. It is essential for me as a film analyst, because you can analyze what's going on in the film; but if you actually, physically do that work, it's a whole other insight into the process.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3116.0,3150.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/109","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Did your interest in movies ever extend into the technical aspects of the industry, such as Vista Vision or Cinerama, any of those?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3150.0,3161.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/110","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes, so my main area of research is the history of Hollywood and Hollywood's classical era, which is roughly dated from 1917 where everything was in place in the studios and also in terms of film style. The establishing shot, cut in, shot, reverse shot, all of that grammar of editing was in embryonic form there and refined over the years until 1960.  Most of what Turner Classic Movies shows are the kinds of films that I'm interested in. The question I'm most interested in is: How do business practices in Hollywood and artistic traditions influence the style, form, and meanings of the film?  It's kind of a question of how societal values are mediated and then show up in film. My first book was about a classical Hollywood-era producer named Walter Wanger who produced, he's not as famous as David O. Selznick or Samuel Goldwyn or Louis B. Mayer or Irving Thalberg or Daryl Zanuck, but he produced some major films trying to be an independent producer who was working with the studios. He produced Queen Christina with Greta Garbo. He produced the first Marx Brothers feature, Cocoanuts. He produced Fritz Lang’s second American film, You Only Live Once, John Ford's Stagecoach, Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent, Fritz's Lang's Scarlet Street, Max Ophuls' The Reckless Moment, Victor Fleming's Joan of Arc with Ingrid Bergman. Riot in Cell Block 11, still one of the great prison films. The original Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Don Siegel, from 1956.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3161.0,3299.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/111","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e That was just on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3299.0,3300.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/112","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Was it just on TCM? Great.  I Want to Live with Susan Hayward about capital punishment. She won an Oscar for that. Then his last project was Cleopatra, the Taylor/Burton fiasco. It was his idea, his idea to do it big, his idea to pay Elizabeth a million dollars. It all went very haywire. So, through his career, I'm looking at production histories. How do these films get made? As I keep talking, my voice gets worse.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3300.0,3349.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/113","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Do you want to take a break?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3349.0,3349.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/114","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yeah, is that all right? Can we do that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3349.0,3351.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/115","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Tell me more about your involvement with the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3351.0,3358.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/116","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e So, my involvement has been multifaceted over the years, since 2005. I served on the selection committee. I've served on a programming committee, which chooses speakers to accompany the screenings at the festival. I've co-chaired that. I co-chaired the festival for two years, back around 2011, 2012. I served as secretary on the board. I've just begun my third term on the board of directors of the Atlanta Jewish Film Society. I introduce a number of films and conduct Q\u0026As with filmmakers. There's a lot I do, and I enjoy doing, working with the festival because I believe in its mission of building bridges of understanding across communities.  It's just been marvelous. We're celebrating our 25th anniversary. It's just marvelous to see how the festival has grown. It's year-round activities. It's outreach to local educational institutions to incorporate films into their curriculum. So let me re-say that because I was; my digestive system was acting up there. It's been amazing to see how much it's grown in terms of adding year-round activities and creating educational programs for local high schools. So, something else I did was, sorry, gosh. {Bernstein pauses momentarily} Something else I did was called AJFF On Campus.  Emory was a pilot campus for the festival to bring four films. We coordinated with professors at Emory to incorporate these films into their syllabi and have the students come and meet filmmakers and everything else. There's a lot to do there and I've really enjoyed doing what I do. Believing as I do in film, as a great way of creating community and empathy and its great power. The Jewish Film Festival really allows me to express my Jewishness in multiple ways.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3358.0,3503.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/117","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Can you tell me more about your children's involvement?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3503.0,3508.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/118","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e My children have nothing to do with the festival. Do you mean my children's work, what my children do?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3508.0,3516.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/119","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e I thought you had one of your sons, maybe I missed, my notes must be all wrong on this.  You had said you wanted to include something.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3516.0,3530.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/120","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e You had a question last time, like what do my kids do?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3530.0,3534.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/121","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3534.0,3535.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/122","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Or whatever.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3535.0,3536.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/123","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e All right, let's do that. Tell me about what your children do.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3536.0,3539.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/124","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e My older son, Justin, is a professor of bioethics and philosophy at the Free University of Amsterdam. His area is looking at questions of utilitarianism and things involving, say, vaccines and... Its political philosophy, by what legitimacy can a government compel its citizens to get vaccinated or get their children vaccinated, questions like that and many, many more. He's about to move actually to Charlottesville, Virginia with his wife, our beloved Cecilia and their daughter Naomi Elaine, to Charlottsville because he's just taken a job in the philosophy department at the University of Virginia. We're very excited about our granddaughter, all of them, being an hour and 10-minute flight, direct flight, from Atlanta. Our youngest son, Adam, is a classical bassist, and he's played with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He's played the Atlanta Opera. He's first chair with the Atlanta Ballet. He plays in regional orchestras like the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Charleston Symphony, Huntsville, Columbus, Georgia. He has a very busy career playing all kinds of music. We had great fun just a couple of weeks ago.  He was playing with the ASO, and they were doing Brahms' Fourth Symphony. You know, when you have a son who plays the bass, you come to appreciate music where the bass is highlighted. Now, Brahms's fourth is... Brahms is like Beethoven, he's like Mahler. It's like he keeps the basses busy. So that was a real treat to hear that and watch him perform. So, he's here in Atlanta. We're proud, incredibly proud. Of both of them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3539.0,3660.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/125","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e There's a surprise. Now, getting over to the movie side of this.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3660.0,3668.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/126","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Oh, and I just wanted to mention I've served multiple terms on the board of the Paideia School and also served on their financial aid committee, selection committee, for many, many years.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3668.0,3682.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/127","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Are you still with them now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3682.0,3684.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/128","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e No. No, I'm an alumni parent since a new generation. But we are still, the Paideia School is one of the reasons we've loved Atlanta. It is just a great community, great people, great teachers. We are much enamored of the school and grateful to the school, actually, for what it taught our kids.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3684.0,3711.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/129","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Now getting more with the technical aspects I'm curious about a few things.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3711.0,3719.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/130","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3719.0,3720.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/131","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e First of all, what are your thoughts about the movie industry going digital?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3720.0,3726.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/132","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Well, it's a combination of factors. Always, you have these new technologies, and then they are not necessarily used unless people want to invest in them. Businesses want to invested in them, so I think digital technology is wonderful in that the access it gives to anybody who wants to be a filmmaker. That's fantastic. It's amazing what can be done with just a camera. There have been feature films shot on an iPhone. They've been quite successful.  I'm very positive about it and the way that it's transformed every aspect of the industry from pre-visualization to obviously post non-linear editing although that existed, to distribution and marketing. The DCP Package is much cheaper to distribute than the old celluloid reels of 35 millimeters.  I think it's a positive. I do appreciate, though, when filmmakers choose to shoot analog, to use celluloids for making their films. People like Martin Scorsese or Christopher Nolan or Paul Thomas Anderson, they're just really committed to that, as well as to the theatrical experience.  I think there's a richness there. But I love the clarity of digital cinema.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3726.0,3821.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/133","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Are any of these films still shown in a film format, or do they go digital before they're shown?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3821.0,3828.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/134","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e What happens is these films are made in a digital; they're made analog, they are available analog. I just watch One Battle After Another in 70-millimeter at The Plaza, but then there are digital versions.  And so, for example One Battle After Another played at the Plaza for a couple of weeks, but because there are so few 70-millimeter prints they were obliged to send it to other theaters and they will show it digitally. There's always a digital copy made and very easily distributed. But certain filmmakers, Quentin Tarantino is another, he insists that the films be shown on celluloid before they get more general release.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3828.0,3875.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/135","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Is Technicolor still around?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3875.0,3878.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/136","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Oh yes, you asked me this, that's right, I don't know the answer.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3878.0,3883.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/137","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e No, I was thinking of the three-film version of technicolor.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3883.0,3886.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/138","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Oh, oh, oh. Three-strip Technicolor does not exist anymore. I mean, I can't think of a single instance where someone resurrected that and used it. I mean, it was incredibly costly. You know, we now have other systems, digital and even before digital, monopac systems that were, you know, very, very good, very vivid color, very saturated color, or as needed. You know, also with color grading now in post and the fact that you can just change the palette of a given scene, a given shot, I don't know what the point would be of using a three-strip Technicolor camera. As opposed to using a Vista Vision camera, which again P.T. Anderson did for One Battle After Another, it was shot in Vista Vision and in very few locales it was shown in Vista Vision. The horizontal moving of the celluloid across the projector, the aperture. So no, Technicolor is not being used, three strip, but it's marvelous to watch the films that were made using it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3886.0,3963.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/139","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e What was your history with George LeFont?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3963.0,3967.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/140","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I knew George because of an activity I was involved in from 1998 to about 2021. I was the host and moderator of the Atlanta Cinema Club.  This was a program developed by a theater manager in D.C. where people could come and see seven films every fall and seven films every spring. That were independent or foreign, which had not yet opened in Atlanta, so you could see these films in advance. People did not know what the films were going to be, necessarily. You had to ask if you wanted to know what they were.  I would introduce them, and then either I or a guest speaker would discuss them with the audience.  We had upwards of 160, 170 people coming. We started out in 1998 at the Garden Hills.  We stayed there until, I can't remember now when George gave up on it and it was sold. From there we moved to Landmark's Midtown Art Cinemas. Again, it was every other Sunday, I think it was at 10:15 or something in the morning.  My friends called it the Cathedral of Cinema; it's like a church going Sunday morning thing.  It was a great program.  I knew George, actually, I invited George to visit a class I taught on the history of the industry to just talk to them about what it's like to be an exhibitor today. That was in the early ‘90s, but I got to know him better through the Atlanta Cinema Club. We, with COVID, had to stop midway through our spring 2020 series, and then the following year, we made up the three screenings we owed online. But it was a great experience. I actually hope to revive it here in town because we had very smart people and the discussions were marvelous. I'm always fascinated by what people take away from a film and how they interpret it. Discussing films is one of my great joys. So, the Atlanta Cinema Club was terrific.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=3967.0,4112.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/141","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e You mentioned a moment ago streaming, which has become a mainstay of theatrical productions, because we'll see it on the big screen one month, and the next month we'll be able to stream it, maybe for a fee, maybe without a fee. Is this the doom of the big theater?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=4112.0,4132.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/142","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I think the way things are shaking out, it's not going to be the doom of the big theater, but I think there's a real question as to how long the major theater chains and multiplexes can continue on the model that they have. One suggestion I've seen is that the theaters are open for major ten-pole spectacle Marvel Universe movies, but otherwise not regularly running. On the other hand, the independent theaters like The Plaza and The Tara and the theater in Sandy Springs are doing more programming tailored to their audiences and they've had enormous success; I know at the Plaza and the Tara, in filling seats.  I think actually the independent, the small independent theater is more viable or at least I can see it as a more viable option going into the future.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=4132.0,4200.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/143","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Hollywood. Is it going to remain the big movie making venue or are we going to see more Atlanta type films made?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=4200.0,4212.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/144","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Well, it would be great if Atlanta; Atlanta's never gonna overtake Hollywood. I don't think any locale is gonna overtake Hollywood on a permanent basis, even though right now production is down in Hollywood. People are shooting where they can save more money with tax incentives in Europe, England in particular. But I think Hollywood will remain the center of commercial filmmaking. Of course, independent film can be made anywhere. So yes, I think it's still the crafts, the craftspeople, the storytelling traditions, they're all well situated there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=4212.0,4251.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/145","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Well, you've told me a lot. Tell me, would you like to add anything?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=4251.0,4261.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/146","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I think I should add a little more about Walter Wanger and what I talk about my oh gosh, holy cow. Something else I did for the AJFF.  Something else I did for the AJFF in the early going when I joined, I think maybe for eight years, was for the program guide. I would write a professor's picks column where I would pick out like ten films that I thought people should see. At a certain point we tried actually sharing that work and eventually gave up on it. There is no recommendation as such in the program guide, which I think is fine, but that was a very substantial contribution I was making, certainly a substantial portion of my time to see all the films and write them up. My first book, Walter Wanger, I was trying to answer a question. [Its] called Walter Wanger, Hollywood Independent. What did it mean, first of all, to be a producer in Hollywood during the classical era, because there are all different kinds of producers.  You have people like David O. Selznick, who's a frustrated director, who is giving lots of memos, famous memos about what's going wrong or what he thinks should be fixed, so on and so forth. I mean Alfred Hitchcock very famously said in a tribute to Selznick in the 60s\" I'm still reading it\". That's how long his memos were, and detailed. Or Darryl F. Zanuck [who] was very involved with scripting and editing and so forth. Wanger was a different kind of producer. He had very little to do with Stagecoach. He just provided the financing through his relationship with United Artists. Other films he was very involved in, like Riot in Cell Block 11, because he'd served a jail sentence for shooting his wife's lover in a Beverly Hills parking lot.  He came out of jail after four months, it was an honor for him, and he said something like, \"the prison system in this country is a scandal. I'm gonna make a movie about it.\"  So, he makes Riot in Cell Block 11, where he is all over the screenwriter “we need this, we need this. We need the clanking of the doors. We need to”, anyway. So, producers not; like Selznick and Zanuck are kinds of producers, but here's another kind of producer. There's also asking, what does it mean to be independent of that kind? Like today we have all kinds of independent filmmakers. But back then in Hollywood, independent meant you had your own production company. But you had a deal with a major studio. You used their facilities. They paid you a salary. You split the profits. You weren't really independent. You were very reliant on the studio that was hosting you. But that was what was called independent in the ‘30s and the ‘40s.  Then it got much looser, or independent filmmakers in Hollywood got greater freedom in the 1950’s with a model, for example, used by United Artists. United Artist had no theaters, had no studios. They were just a distribution and marketing concern because that's what Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks wanted. They had their own studios. They were incredibly wealthy. They just needed someone to distribute and market their films. So, in the ‘50s, United Artists kind of turned around what they were doing even more. They just said \"bring us a great script with a good star. We will finance it, no questions asked. But we've got to have a bankable star and a good script\".  It changes there. In any case, these are the kinds of questions I was trying to answer through production history. Production history, to me, is the most fascinating part of film history. Well, I'll say it's one of the most fascinating, because to me the making of a film, any film is a minor miracle. Or maybe it's a miracle. The making of a great film; we're talking about thousands upon thousands of decisions: lighting, costuming, all of it, blocking, how you direct actors. The making of a great film is a major miracle. It's extraordinary. So how do these things come together to make the film, of whatever quality, that is something that fascinates me. Another thing that fascinates me about this period, is Hollywood's self-regulation of content. The Supreme Court in 1915 ruled that movies were not entitled to First Amendment protection. They were subject to prior restraint. There were censors all over the country, states like New York and Maryland, Ohio; they had full state censors. Georgia didn't have a state censor, but it had a city censor in Atlanta from 1922 to 1962. There were actually three of them. Well. Yeah, actually we can go back to 1914. Three of them, two really important.  Hollywood had this system of trying to anticipate what local censors might cut.  They tried to guide filmmakers to do what they wanted to do, however racy, risqué, sexy, criminal it was, but to do it in such a way that it would not raise objections from the local censors. You see social values, social attitudes, political attitudes coming to bear on filmmaking. It's a way that societal values are written in. So that fascinates me. This plays a role in my second book, which is called Screening a Lynching: The Leo Frank Case on Film and Television, because I was looking at four different stories. Four different telling’s of the Leo Frank case, two on film from the ‘30s, and then two on television from the ‘60s, and then the 1980s. The two made in the ‘30's were subject to regulation and censorship. One was made by the great black film pioneer Oscar Micheaux called Murder in Harlem in 1935. It had the Leo Frank case story, but it was embedded in another plot about a black attorney who's defending the night watchman from accusations that he killed the Mary Phagan character. This guy goes door to door selling his novels, he falls in love with someone he's trying to sell his novels to, she's the sister of the accused man, so on and so forth. When our local censor got word; this film was only shown in the black theaters, when she got word that this film is about the Leo Frank case, which all of Atlanta was ashamed of, or most of Atlanta was ashamed of, not least the Jewish community. She ordered everything in the film concerning Leo Frank to be cut out, which would leave just the portion about the black novelist.  I think, I haven't done an exact count, but this would be a 30- or 40-minute film. {Bernstein laughs} You got that and then in 1937 Warner Brothers makes this very powerful Leo Frank film called They Won't Forget. It's directed and produced by Mervyn LeRoy who did I'm a Fugitive from a Chain Gang in 1932. The Production Code Administration led by Joseph Breen is unhappy with the original script because it shows the police and various witnesses and prosecutor in active collusion. They show it explicitly on screen.  The production code administration says, you can't show this, you can show figures of authority being so corrupt.  The filmmakers rework it so that it just kinda happens that everyone colludes, combines, to indict this stranger from out of town for the murder of a woman in a business school basement, in this case. Looking at what can be told about the Leo Frank case, in what media at what time, and what different portions of the case are emphasized and which aren't, is fascinating to me. That's what the book is about. For example, neither Oscar Micheaux's Murder in Harlem or Warner Brothers, They Won't Forget has the Leo Frank character as Jewish.  That's really fascinating. We don't know why Micheaux didn't bring the Jewish element in. It's murder in Harlem. It's not set in the South. You don't have sectionalism as an issue. It's just a corrupt factory owner who's taking advantage of his position to sexually assault an employee and accidentally kill her, and then his black assistant. The Micheaux film focuses on the testimony of the black factory sweeper, Jim Connolly and what that does to indict the Leo Frank case, even though he's not guilty at the end. There's a twist I won't go into, it's very elaborate. In the case of They Won't Forget; oh, maybe it was because some of Micheaux's backers were Jewish. Maybe that's a reason he didn't script the Jewish angle in at the time, because he needed backers. When sound came in it was so costly for him, an independent, really independent filmmaker. They Won't Forget was based on a novel, Death in the Deep South, by Ward Greene, who was a reporter on the journal at the time of the case. He wrote one of the reviews of Birth of a Nation, ecstatic review of it, at the time. Best known for writing the story which was the basis of The Lady and the Tramp. He wrote this novel, Death in The Deep South and he kind of posits the Jewish angle. He doesn't have the Jewish angle because, he doesn't have the Jewish angle at all, because he believed, like many, that Frank's Jewish identity was not a factor until the appeal stage of his case, not in the original trial, which we know is not the case. But in any case, Warner Brothers, Hollywood, were more than happy not to address Leo Frank's Judaism in this film. When the film was ready to be shown in Atlanta, Mrs. Alonzo Richardson (the city censor), the mayor, the Warner Brothers distributors, some of the exhibitors, they gathered for a screening and they agreed this film will not be shown in Atlanta because it would stir up too much ill will, racial and anti-Semitic.  The most grateful people that this film was not shown in Atlanta was the Jewish community. The Southern Israelite published an editorial thanking everyone for making this decision, especially Warner Brothers, because they're going to not make money on this film in Atlanta. Just really, really appreciative of it, because of course the Jewish community was terrified after the Leo Frank case and really kept its head down for decades.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=4261.0,4997.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/147","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Do you feel that the demographics of Hollywood had a decision in this?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=4997.0,5001.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/148","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e How do you mean the demographics?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5001.0,5003.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/149","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Being a very Jewish town at that time. A very Jewish industry at the time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5003.0,5008.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/150","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I think that was a reason, a very good reason. I mean it's an adaptation of a novel. So that was just sort of icing on the cake. The Jews in Hollywood did not want to call too much attention to Jews, except in comic roles. So yeah, that confluence there, different competing interests would result in, “yeah that's fine, we don't have and bring that up”. There is plenty to deal with in terms of sectionalism, racism. The black character in They Won't Forget, is terrified he's going to be lynched. He gives perjured testimony that he then rescinds because he's so scared on the stand. Very unlike Jim Conley who was utterly persuasive and there you see Hollywood doesn't want to give a black character that much agency.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5008.0,5067.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/151","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Your history of your own, what you've done so far that we've learned of today, have you ever wanted to produce a film or have you produced a film?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5067.0,5080.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/152","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I have not produced a film. I have executive produced a pair of films. One of them will be shown at the Breman very soon. It's called Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen. It was about adapting Fiddler on the Roof to the movie. It has extensive interviews with Norman Jewison, the director, a lot of the cast, Topol, three women who played the daughters, John Williams who did the scoring and won an Oscar for it.  It's narrated by Jeff Goldblum. That's a wonderful film.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5080.0,5117.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/153","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Tevye and his five daughters.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5117.0,5119.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/154","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Tevye and his Five Daughters, right. Then the same filmmaker, Daniel Raim, who's very talented, has made a documentary about the great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu called The Ozu Diaries, which is just now being shown in film festivals. In fact, it's going to be shown on Sunday at the Tokyo Film Festival, but we arrive too late to attend that screening. It's just a marvelous, very personal and sustained and affectionate look at Ozu's mastery of filmmaking.  Natalie and I are executive producers on that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5119.0,5164.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/155","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e I'm going to assume that you have your own personal library of films somewhere stored away. Will I be correct in thinking that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5164.0,5174.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/156","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Back in the day, pre-digital age, I started collecting 16-millimeter prints. The first print I ever owned was one my wife bought for me as a birthday gift of Kenji Mizoguchi's Sansho the Bailiff, a film from the ‘50s. We were talking about Seven Samurai before; it tied with Seven Samurais for the top prize in Venice. It's a medieval folk tale about incredible cruelty, people being enslaved in Japan, and one enlightened leader who tries to fight it. Just really, really powerful, but my gosh, you need a box of tissues to watch this. Another one was Rules of the Game. My wife, again, arranged for that, because it is a film I consider the greatest ever made.  So, yeah, I built up probably 40 titles on 16-millimeter, and...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5174.0,5239.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/157","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Do you still have them?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5239.0,5241.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/158","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I have about 30 of them. I probably had 80 in my prime, and I'll look to sell them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5241.0,5249.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/159","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Are you able to show them?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5249.0,5250.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/160","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I have a pair of 16-millimeter projectors that I can use.  I have an extensive DVD and Blu-ray and now 4K collection getting up there. I have home theater, so I go for the highest quality.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5250.0,5266.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/161","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Well, there's a surprise. You have a home theater?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5266.0,5268.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/162","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes. I was just watching the newly restored Frank Capra's You Can't Take It with You from 1938 in 4K which Sony has just restored.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5268.0,5279.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/163","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e In your bio, I notice that you've done some work with censorship.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5279.0,5285.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/164","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5285.0,5285.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/165","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e You mentioned it a little bit earlier. Any outstanding movies that got censored other than the ones that you mentioned so far?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5285.0,5293.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/166","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Oh, there are many.  I mean if we start with the 30s, Mae West was an incredibly risqué comedian, hilarious, because she asserted, without hesitation or shame, a woman's sexual desire. For a while, the self-regulators in Hollywood let it go. But then in 1934, there's this big switch when Joseph Breen comes in to head the Production Code Administration, and he really applies the Production Code, the rules of what could be shown and what couldn't be shown, very sternly. She is defanged of her humor. She makes films after this, but they're not as funny because she's not allowed to be as saucy as she was. So that's a great example. There's a Jean Harlow movie, Red-Headed Woman, from 1932 from MGM, where she's just the secretary who sleeps with everybody she can. Our censor had a fit. Our censor wrote a letter to Hollywood saying, “I previewed this with my granddaughter, and I can't believe you're making films like this”. So yeah, all through, there were; one of Walter Wangers' films, Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street in 1945, was censored in Milwaukee, New York State, and Atlanta.  There was a censorship battle because it's about a kind of milquetoast bank cashier, played by Edward G. Robinson, who falls in love with, it's very strongly implied, a sex worker played by Joan Bennett. Her John is played by Dan Duryea, and they milk the Robinson character for money; an apartment; start selling his paintings, all of this, and it doesn't end well. The Robinson character kills the Bennett character and so forth. Walter Wanger actually negotiated, and in Milwaukee, they were like, “We don't care.  We'll just wait it out.” In New York, huge market, home of all the offices, they go and negotiate something like, reducing the number of times Robinson uses an ice pick to kill Joan Bennet. There was this fabulous poem by one of the commentators in the New Yorker, and it went something like this. It concluded like this, something like this. \"So let it be written in the super lights and in the superstars, that seven strokes to take a life are six strokes over par\", or something like that. It was a face-saving thing. There was also a line of dialog, \"where's the bedroom\", when they look at an apartment for her. Then in Atlanta; they negotiated OK with New York and then Atlanta, they thought would be a pushover but Atlanta turned out to be; our new censor at the time, she was then Miss Christine Smith, later Christine Smith Gilliam. She insisted, and she got the board overseeing her at the Carnegie Library to agree, this is a film that should not be shown. I mean there's not a single admirable character in the entire film. It's a real work of naturalism and degradation. Actually, the Renoir, Jean Renoir had made it in the '30s as La Chienne, based on a French novel. They had to take Atlanta to court and it took forever to do that. It was a real interesting thing to see Atlanta's reaction because Wanger gave a statement to the press, \"I would never let my wife appear in any film where she could play someone of sexual, questionable sexual character\". The newspapers were like, \"Come on, just focus on making films and don't make these stupid pronouncements\". There was this real resistance to Hollywood imposing its values and its product on the local community. At the same time, I looked at letters to the editor in the newspapers and there were people saying, \"why have we just fought to defeat fascism? Why are we letting one person decide what we can see and we can't see after battling the fascists and authoritarian regimes\". The censorship piece is endlessly fascinating. The production code files are available at the Academy Library, the Margaret Herrick Library in Los Angeles. There are also online versions of a selection of files that I can access through Emory's library, any university library that has a film program would have these. It's just endlessly fascinating. Tea and Sympathy in the '50s, they had to cut down the gay qualities of the young boy who ends up having the affair with the coach's wife.  Then there are these breakthroughs, like Otto Preminger making The Moon is Blue, where they use the words 'damn' and 'virgin', and 'I think she can be seduced', and the production code, people said \"No. We won't allow it.\" Otto Preminger said, \"forget it. I'm an independent, releasing for United Artists\". The United Artist said, \"yeah, we're going to release it. We don't care about not getting a seal of approval\".","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5293.0,5657.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/167","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e In that film The Moon is Blue I think David Niven says \"what is she a professional virgin?\".","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5657.0,5666.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/168","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Right. Yes, the word virgin too.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5666.0,5667.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/169","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e That got kicked out of my hometown","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5667.0,5671.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/170","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yeah, so I mentioned in 1915 the Supreme Court dictated that movies were not entitled to First Amendment protection. In 1952, the Miracle Decision, named after a Roberto Rossellini film starring Federico Fellini and Anna Magnani, they ruled that yes, movies are a medium for the communication of ideas and they are entitled to First Amendment Protection. Then you see the chips falling away. Our censorship office in Atlanta wasn't eliminated until 1962 when somebody found that the statute empowering the censor was invalid, too vague, something like that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5671.0,5720.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/171","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Was that the year that they were allowed to show people in instead of twin beds in a double bed?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5720.0,5730.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/172","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I can't tell you the exact year when the twin bed or, if on the same bed, one foot on the floor rule was eliminated. The couple in bed, married couple in the bed, the only kind of couple that should be on a bed together, with one foot of the floor, that was to satisfy the British censors. They knew there would be problems in the UK market if they showed that. I'm not sure when that went out, probably sometime in the fifties.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5730.0,5761.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/173","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e It came into television.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5761.0,5764.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/174","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yes. Television had to be, especially in its opening years/decades, had to very careful about what it showed. It was coming directly into your home; you don't have to go out to a theater and pay to see it. So yes, television had to be very careful.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5764.0,5780.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/175","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Do you have any other comments?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5780.0,5782.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/176","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I guess I wanted to talk about film for a while, just a little bit. Movies are so powerful and I've been absorbed in that power and that artistry for many years. Oh, we didn't talk about Emory. What I do at Emory. We need to talk. I'm sorry.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5782.0,5807.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/177","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Tell me, what do you do at Emory?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5807.0,5812.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/178","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e So, I came to... What time's your thing?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5812.0,5821.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/179","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e It's not.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5821.0,5822.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/180","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Oh, oh, OK.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5822.0,5824.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/181","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e I'm speaking for you, I'm sorry. But you told me that earlier. I'm glad you're here because I would have forgotten all about Emory.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5824.0,5837.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/182","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yeah, and then I'd say, “oh no, I've got to come back.”","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5837.0,5842.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/183","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e We've got to get a picture of the suit, so if he comes back, we've got to; you know our editors want to have the same clothes on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5842.0,5850.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/184","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Good Idea. Yeah, also my hair, my coiffure.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5850.0,5853.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/185","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e At least you have hair.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5853.0,5859.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/186","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e So, gosh, I think it must be earlier.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5859.0,5863.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/187","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e I will help you with editing when the time comes, because we got a real challenge on our hands here.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5863.0,5873.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/188","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I arrived at Emory in 1989, and I've been there ever since. I've had offers to go elsewhere, Columbia, Michigan, Wisconsin-Madison.  I realized Emory was the best possible place for me. Small Liberal Arts College. When I arrived, I was the third faculty member in film. We were in the theater department. We were able to launch a film major at that time.  We actually had students waiting for the major so they could complete it and graduate with it. After that time, when we were just three people.  We were for the most part just four people, but we had tremendous demand for our courses, especially Introduction to Film, which teaches students how to look at films and how to analyze them critically. Much like what I was teaching to the selection committee at the AJFF. It was like, “oh, here's Intro to Films, a full semester in 50 minutes.” In fall 2006, I became the chair of the department.  I served for 15 years through 2021. During that period of time, with my colleagues, because nobody does this alone, we launched a media studies minor and then added a media studies major. That was in 2010 and 2014. In 2010, we also inaugurated the first ever collaboration between a College of Arts and Sciences Department and the Goizueta Business School. With my good friend Andrea Hershatter Dean of Undergraduate Students, we launched the concentration in Film and Media Management, which brought business school students and film and media students together so they could learn about how the industry works and what are the tools and sets of knowledge they need to be able to pursue careers in the entertainment industry. We were the first to do this in the southeast. We may still be the only program in the Southeast to do this. We initiated a production program. We had a part-time person teaching production in 2006 when I became chair. We were able, with the support of deans; none of this gets done without support of great deans at Emory College. We were able to enlarge the production program, so by 2021, we had grown from three faculty to 13 faculty.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=5873.0,6042.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/189","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e How many students would that encompass?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6042.0,6045.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/190","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Our major generally has, majors and minors, amount to a hundred and seventy, a hundred and eighty students. We had tremendous growth; we had growth in production. This has continued under my successor, Dr. Michele Schreiber. We've created a media production minor and there may be a major in the future. We're moving into a production studio. Specially designed for us at Emory Point in January. It's really, really exciting. We've maintained our Emory Cinematheque free weekly screenings of Whitehall 208 at 7:30, which we introduced sometimes connected to a course.  When I co-taught a course on Billy Wilder or I co-taught a course on Federico Fellini, our Cinematheque was about their films. So, lots of programming. Lots of activity going on, and just a great group of colleagues who are really smart leaders in the field and also just really good people, fun to work with. One of the things I'm most proud of is how I was able to grow the department and take it from something that was understaffed and not well known on campus to a thriving department. In fact, we were a program when I arrived, we become a department. When I was acting chair in 2003, had to fill out the paperwork and make the case and have support in the Board of Trustees and the Provost's Office. I was able to accomplish that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6045.0,6150.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/191","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e You have to be a good salesman.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6150.0,6152.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/192","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e You have to be a good salesman and you have to have good relationships with people. We've really, we've come a long way and we're continuing to grow.  We have five full-time production faculty and we are about to hire a sixth, an expert in sound design. We're just very fortunate that the administration, the college dean's office, is interested in investing in us.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6152.0,6188.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/193","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e If you were advising a young high school student today who's interested in this, what would you tell them?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6188.0,6196.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/194","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Interested in which?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6196.0,6197.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/195","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Film.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6197.0,6198.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/196","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Filmmaking? I would advise them to make as many films on their own with their friends as possible. It's also advice I give to Emory students that just you can't just make films in your filmmaking classes. You've got to get experience. We have ETV, which is a student filmmaking club, where they have their own equipment and once a week, on a weekend, they come together.  They crew for each other and help each other make their films. Should even work in theater production, work on set construction, learn about stage design, learn about blocking, all of this just to get as much experience as possible.  Definitely to write. Write short scripts to begin with.  You could even be; someone in creative writing did this one semester, adapting scenes from a short story or adapting a short story into a film. But starting out small, not trying to do a feature film script, but getting that experience and that kind of thinking and writing. That's what I would say.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6198.0,6275.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/197","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e I think that the movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was done that way. They took a short story.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6275.0,6281.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/198","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Oh, by James Thurber.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6281.0,6284.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/199","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6284.0,6284.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/200","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Yeah, I can't recall if it's a short story, it might well have been.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6284.0,6286.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/201","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e I just read it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6286.0,6288.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/202","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Oh, you just read it, okay, well here we are","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6288.0,6291.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/203","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e And then I remembered the Danny Kaye version of it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6291.0,6295.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/204","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Or John Huston's The Dead from James Joyce's short story, or The Lady with the Little Dog, the Russian film from the Chekhov story that was later remade as Dark Eyes with Marcello Mastroianni set in Italy. Adaptation is always a really good.  When I talk about historical forces shaping a film, there's also the question of creative choices, the esthetics.  Adaptation is a great arena for looking at what choices filmmakers make. On the basic level of narrative and character.  I haven't read Vineland by Thomas Pynchon, but I've read some comparisons of the novel with One Battle After Another. It's just fascinating. I mean, one of my all-time favorite films is Sense and Sensibility, the Emma Thompson screenplay, which she stars in with Hugh Grant and Kate Winslet. I just love the way Emma Thompson worked that screenplay to kind of make the story comprehensible to a modern audience.  It's just explicitly explaining how powerless women are in that society. Then also the genius of hiring Ang Lee to direct this film. I mean, Ang Lee had only made the wedding banquet about the Korean gay couple and they have to pretend the son is straight when the parents come for the wedding and so on and so forth. He'd made two other features prior to that. Oh, he made Eat, Drink, Man, Woman about family and daughters and their troublesome relationship with their father. The producers of Sense and Sensibility said, “ah, he knows how to depict family dynamics.” But Ang Lee's films are almost always about restraint and emotion, people feeling things they can't express. I mean, that's Brokeback Mountain, right? The British society of Austin's time where you can't express your emotion, and Sense and Sensibility is all about that debate between the two sisters, the younger one wants to express it all, the older one is about restraint and what's proper, and neither of them are happy until the very end. Anyway, adaptation is absolutely fascinating.  I'll just say I think film is still the most powerful medium we have, most powerful mass medium. Its the most influential, it helps us like great literature, it helps us develop empathy, understanding of the world, human psychology. Brings us to a better understanding of our place in the world. The best way to consume film is in a group, in a theater. I often say, if I wasn't a film professor, I'd want to run a movie theater. I want to be Chris Escobar, because I love movies. I'm almost done, I'm nearly done. Can you hear me? I've often said if I weren't a film professor I'd want to be an exhibitor, I'd want to run a movie theater, I want to Chris Escobar. I love sharing films with people in groups and the best way to see a film is in a group. Assuming everybody's behaving, the phones are turned off, etc., there are no babies crying.  The group experience of a film is how it's meant to be seen and it enriches the experience not just in comedy and not just like horror films where you feed off everybody's reaction for those extreme reactions, but just whatever you're watching, whether it's drama or whatever it is. The group experience is essential.  I feel very fortunate that I have been able to work at my passion. To be rewarded in so many ways with pursuing my passion, my passionate love of film.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6295.0,6584.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/205","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e We feel very fortunate to have someone like you who is so passionate about this industry, about this art form, any way you want to call it because you obviously have shown you love this what you're doing and you're going to be doing it for a long time. I want to thank you today for coming and talking with us and if we've left something out, we'll come back and do it again.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6584.0,6608.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/206","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Thank you, Gil. It's been a real pleasure talking with you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6608.0,6611.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/207","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6611.0,6611.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/208","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I appreciate the opportunity. One more thing. This is the very last thing. You haven't asked me what my favorite film is. Should I talk about that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6611.0,6622.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/209","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e You know, I did last time. Go ahead.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6622.0,6623.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/210","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e You did last time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6623.0,6624.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/211","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e Excuse me. So, do you have a favorite film?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6624.0,6626.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/212","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e I do. I have a film that I consider the greatest film ever made, so when people ask me, this is what I say. It's a very film-professor like film. It's a French film from 1939. It's by the great director Jean Renoir, who is the son of Auguste Renoir and the name of it is The Rules of the Game. The Rules of the Game is a film about a bunch of folks who are wealthy, mostly, in Paris who are sleeping around and the Jewish marquee, one of the eight main characters, invites everyone out to a chateau in the Loire region and they go hunting. They then have a masquerade party where all hell breaks loose, all decorum breaks down. It has a classical structure based on its source, a play by Marivaux. That's one of its sources. Where the romantic triangle between the marquis, his wife, and an aviator, a transatlantic aviator, that romantic triangle is mirrored by a triangle among the servants. The reason I love this film; it's so classically structured. It's one of those films where there is not a shot or a moment that is not perfect that matches the technique to the film. Most of all, Renoir has his father's pictorial sense for sure, but he's a master of the long take, the long duration shot, usually defined as eight seconds or more. And camera movement. In a more conventional film, you'd have establishing shot. Cut in, cut in. He films it all in a continuous take. It has to do with his belief that everybody is connected in some way. But it also interacts with his staging, his blocking of the actors, so that when you're watching a scene in this film, you feel like the action is just unfolding naturally, and you just happen to be there, eavesdropping on it. When things go crazy at the party, one great critic, Andre Bazin, said, “the camera is like another guest at the party. It'll turn this way and find some important action in the romantic triangles, it'll turn this way, and see something else.” To me, that choreography of elaborate, farcical action with the choreography of the camera, is simply unmatched. At the same time, Renoir shows he's a master at editing during the hunting sequence, which is absolutely brutal. And it's a work of social criticism. It was a work that was; Renoir was quoting someone in French literature who said, “we are society dancing on the edge of a volcano”, looking at what was happening with Hitler in Germany, Franco in Spain.  The film was a terrible flop when it came out because audiences recognize the criticism. The negative, I think, was destroyed by the Nazis at a certain point.  Miraculously, it has been reconstructed, and now on 4K or Blu-ray looks better than ever. The characters don't behave well, but they are absolutely; I find them irresistible.  That's another mark of Renoir's greatness, his humanity and his love for his characters no matter how badly they behave. The most famous line from the film that's often quoted is, \"everybody has his reasons\". People do what they do, whether it's good or it's bad, but they have their own reason for doing it. It's that kind of empathy and insight in other Renoir films, like Grand Illusion, his great anti-war film about World War I, that makes Rules of the Game so fantastic. Now I'm done.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6626.0,6880.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/213","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eHALPERN:\u003c/strong\u003e I want to thank Dr. Bernstein for his interview with us today, and I hope people will see it because it gives you a whole insight into the industry of film. How films not only are made but what they portray and how they can help us better understand humanity. Thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6880.0,6901.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483/transcript/87442/annotation/214","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cstrong\u003eBERNSTEIN:\u003c/strong\u003e Thank you, Gil. So well said.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/163914/file/298483#t=6901.0,6904.0"}]}]}]}