Ceeee-le-bration time, Come on!
Why am I celebrating, you ask? Well, it's been a year since our amazing sneak-preview premiere at the Victoria last year, and so many wonderful and fabulous adventures have been had with Jericho's Echo in the ensuing months. (Read this very blog to learn more...)
So how am I celebrating? Naturally, with a big, fat trip to Germany. For those of you who don't know me, that "Naturally" was dripping with irony, as Germany is actually one of the last places on earth that I expected to take my Israeli movie with Jewish content. But off to the land of liederhosen I go, on a two week tour with Johannes Dechant and his fanzine about Israeli punk called Katzilla.
I imagine that this trip will definitely be the biggest adventure yet, and probably the last big adventure I have as far as taking JE on the road, as the DVD will be released to retail this August (Yippee!). Johannes and I are taking our "Film und Fanzine" tour to 14 screenings in 14 cities in 14 days. Oy vey.
I am leaving for the tour on Thursday morning and making a brief stop in Florida on the way there for a family event (congrats, Cory and Kristin!). I am getting super anxious about the trip...excited in a *good* way, of course, but also kind of like, "WTF? Am I really going to GERMANY?!" The first time I heard a cop speaking German, in Austria about 8 years ago, I pretty much freaked out. After all, the only images I had ever seen of men in uniform speaking German were images of Nazis.
Logically, I know this is silly. I know that I am not going to get jumped by any Nazis or forced into a labor camp and that, in fact, modern Germans are enlightened, culturally savvy, fairly liberal folks. I've talked to lots of friends about the upcoming trip and they've all reassured me of these things. My friend Matt even pointed out how beautiful and powerful it is that 60 years ago our grandparents were killing each other, and now I, a Nice Jewish Girl, am being brought over there to exhibit a work that deals with a set of issues close to the hearts of Jews around the world.
But, still...as wonderful and well-meaning as he has been, my host Johannes added to the freakout factor the other day when he sent me some interview questions for a German zine he writes for. One of the questions was, "You once wrote, that a big part of the audience in the US is actually jewish. How did they react to the movie?" Yes, folks, ACTUAL Jews! Step right up and for only a shilling you can see them for yourselves, horns and all! I know, I know. That's not what he meant. But it was just a reminder of what a teeny, tiny minority I will be joining when the plane lands. And why.
So--I am about to leave for this trip and I know it will be an incredible experience. It will be great for the Israeli bands to get some promotion in Europe, and for me, I'm sure it will actually be a hell of a lot of punk rock fun and mayhem. I also know that, as illogical as it might be, I will be overcoming a personal hurdle to make it happen.
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