Screening #18 Sunday May 6 9:30 AM Commerce Township
Special Bagel Brunch, Co-sponsored by Evelyn and Harvey Goldsmith and New York Bagels
Film Sponsored by The Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation
 
 

Join us for at 9:30 a.m. for a special Bagel Brunch, including bagels, cream cheese, coffee, juice, and who knows what else, followed at 10:00 (sharp!) by a special screening of First Basket.  Admission is must $10, and all Festival pass holders and $360 or above patrons are FREE. Space is limited, so we need you to call (paid or free) to tell us you’re coming. Call Frannie at 248-432-5461 during normal business hours and leave a message if you have to.

  
 

 
First Basket

A Special Director’s Selection

100 minutes, English, Black and White and Color, United States

“...a flash of a film dedicated to the past and future of America...”

Amazing: basketball the ultimate Jewish sport? Yes, owners and managers were, but players, promoters? Well, it seemed that everybody was Jewish! The NBA’s first points—ever? Scored by Jewish power forward Ossie
Schectman on November 1, 1946 as the New York Knicks beat the Toronto Huskies. Emmes. This great film brings back all the names you remember: Red Auerbach, Abe Saperstein, Leo Gottlieb, Ralph Kaplowitz, Max Cohn, Nat Frankel, Sid Gerchick, Meyer Goldman, Manny Kaplan,  Solomon "Bud" Schwartz, Jack Silverman, Sy Rose, Brooms Abramovic, Jerry Fleishman, Hank Rosenstein, Dolph Schayes, Max Zaslofsky, and hundreds more.

Most important, director David Vyorst’s film, narrated by Peter Riegert, is about becoming American. This wonderful movie observes the immigrant experience and discusses the role sports still play in weaving the fabric of the U.S. as we know it.

BONUS: Filmmaker David Vyorst joins us from Washington, D.C. as we watch this meticulously crafted work featuring 50 years and including everyone from The Harlem Globetrotters to the Celtics, Pistons and Knicks. Wow! Wow! Wow!