For many families, the drive to the Catskills may have been a schlep, but staying at one of the famous resorts was the highlight of the year. These idyllic mountain towns were perfect retreats for vacationers - especially Jews who wanted to stay connected to their cultural and religious identities - and inspired countless movies that relive those beloved vacation memories.

Tickets to this event are $10 for adults, $7 for students and seniors, and $5 for members. Joining Professor Brown, filmmakers Shelley Alt man, Pamela Gray, and Joan Micklin Silver will talk about how their work was inspired by the Borscht Belt. They will share clips from their classic movies as well as discuss upcoming projects. This program is shown in conjunction with the special exhibition The Other Promised Land: Vacationing, Identity, and the Jewish American Dream, now on display at the Museum. This unique exhibition examines the all-American tradition of vacationing and how this complemented, echoed, and influenced existing values within the Jewish community.

Even after the popularity of the Catskills waned in the mid-70s, the region remained a source of nostalgia and inspiration to filmmakers who brought the spirit of bygone summers to the screen. Pamela Gray will share clips from her 1999 film A Walk on the Moon, which chronicles the summer of 1969 for the Kantrowitz family. Depicting the heyday of the Borscht Belt, the traditional and emotionally familiar backdrop of the vacationing scene is juxtaposed with the prolific social upheaval of the 60s: from free love and Woodstock to the moon landing. Shelly Altman examines this same setting twenty-five years later in Sweet Lorraine (1987), which tells the story of hotelier Lillian Garber and her granddaughter, Molly, who has come to work at the hotel Lorraine for the summer. In this depiction of the Catskills dying days, the women must decide whether or not to sell the beloved resort to developers.

Panelists' Bios Phil Brown is a professor of Sociology at Brown University. He earned his Ph.D. from Brandeis University and is on the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society. As president of the Catskills Institute, he has presented 13 yearly conferences about the Catskills, and has spoken and written extensively on the subject. Shelly Altman, screenwriter of Sweet Lorraine, has been working in film and television for over 20 years. She has received several Daytime Emmy Award and Writer s Guild of America nominations as a writer on One Life to Live, and a Writers Guild of America nomination for writing for Another World.

Pamela Gray's feature credits include A Walk on the Moon, Music of the Heart, and Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights. A Walk on the Moon (aka The Blouse Man) was produced by Dustin Hoffma n, premier ed at the Sundance Film Festival, and received a Golden Satellite nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Pamela has also written for television, including two Hallmark Hall of Fame movies, episodes of Once and Again, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and one-hour drama pilots for CBS and ABC. Variety named Pamela one of "T en Screenwriters to Watch." She is currently writing an original film for Fox Searchlight, as well as a remake of A Star is Born for Warner Brothers to star Beyoncé.

Joan Micklin Silver is a director of film, television, and theater, and a vice president of SilverFilm Productions, Inc. She began working in film in the late 1960s. Her first feature film, Hester Street, won her a Writer's Guild nomination for best screenplay. She also directed the tremendously popular film Crossing Delancey (1988) among others. -- www.mjhnyc.org