Paper Clips' film to be followed by discussion with a participant
Newburgh The documentary film “Paper Clips” will be shown at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 2, at Mt. St. Mary College Hudson Hall, the old Newburgh Jewish Community Center auditorium at 360 Powell Ave in Newburgh. After the film there will be a discussion with Ronny Carr, a student Paper Clip Project participant. Whitwell, Tenn., is a small, rural community of less than two thousand people nestled in the mountains of Tennessee. Its citizens are almost exclusively white and Christian. In 1998, the children of Whitwell Middle School took on an inspiring project, launched out of their principal’s desire to help her students open their eyes to the diversity of the world beyond their insulated valley. What happened would change the students, their teachers, their families and the entire town foreve, and eventually open hearts and minds around the world. “Paper Clips” is the moving and inspiring documentary film that captures how these students responded to lessons about the Holocaust - with a promise to honor every lost soul by collecting one paper clip for each individual exterminated by the Nazis. Despite the fact that they had previously been unaware of and unfamiliar with the Holocaust, their plan was simple, but profound. The amazing result, a memorial railcar filled with 11 million paper clips (representing 6 million Jews and 5 million gypsies, homosexuals and other victims of the Holocaust) stands permanently in their schoolyard as an unforgettable lesson of how a committed group of children and educators can change the world, one classroom at a time. The film is a production of The Johnson Group, in association with Miramax Films and Ergo Entertainment. It was named one of the top documentary films of 2004 by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, has been acclaimed as “Oscar caliber” by Joel Siegel on Good Morning America, and has received audience and jury awards at film festivals across the country. Although there is no charge for this screening, reservations are suggested to guarantee a seat. The program is suggested for ages 12 through adult. The event will be cosponsored by the Newburgh Jewish Community Center, the Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County, and Mount Saint Mary College. For more information, call 561-6602, write to njcc6602@aol.com or visit www.newburghjcc.org.