Thanks / More Film!

We here at the Lowell Film Collaborative couldn’t be happier or more honored for the wonderful turnout we had on Tuesday at the National Park Visitor Center for our community screening of the documentary Browsing Through Birke’s. Our partnership for this (ad)venture with Szifra Birke, daughter of the film’s subjects Nathan and Sally Birke, has proven overwhelmingly positive for us, as last night’s screening brought in a sea of new faces unfamiliar (and now very familiar!) with the LFC. Even more important, we were delighted to be a partner in telling the epic, fascinating, and often heartbreaking story of Nathan and Sally Birke’s journey from Holocaust survivors in Russia to independent business owners in downtown Lowell. Despite the horrors sometimes undertaken by its would-be patrons and (gasp!) browsers, Birke’s holds a special place in the heart of countless Lowellians, as proven by the entertaining stories shared both before and after last night’s screening.

Just a reminder that the LFC’s next screening will take place next Monday, May 24, at 7:30 PM at Life Alive in downtown Lowell. Enlighten Up is a documentary that follows yoga skeptic Nick Rosen in his global quest to discover whether or not yoga can truly transform anyone if practiced in its truest form. His journey takes him to various corners of the world, where he meets celebrity yogis, renowned gurus, and people most would consider ‘yoga freaks.’ We hope you can join us for this wonderful event that is being brought to you in partnership between Life Alive, the LFC, and Jon Brandi, who offers Brom Yoga classes at the Space, 122 Western Avenue.

In the meantime, if you’re itching for more film, please pay a visit to our friends at the Chelmsford Public Library tomorrow night, May 20, as they host a free screening of the 2009 indie hit (500) Days of Summer, beginning at 6:30 PM in the McCarthy Meeting Room. Recently viewed by the LFC and given a unanimous thumbs up, this quirky romantic comedy follows a young greeting card writer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who is hopelessly, helplessly searching for the girl of his dreams…only to discover that his new co-worker, Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel), may just be the one. But the 500 days of their offbeat relationship reveal (in no particular order) that the road to happiness can be unpredictable, uncontrollable and unbelievably funny! Don’t miss this fresh take on love and loss in Chelmsford tomorrow.