Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival Opening Night With the Mideast conflict appearing more intractable than ever, the 13th annual Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival is offering a welcome respite: laughter. The festival's opening night celebration is themed "The Funny Business About Religion," and it features stand-up routines by a rabbi and a Muslim followed by the local premiere of Heaven Is Not There, aka Circumcise Me, a documentary about comic Yisrael Campbell (pictured), who converted from Catholicism to Judaism not once but three times. The fest continues through Sun., March 15 at venues around the Bay Area including the Tampa Theatre, Baywalk Muvico in St. Petersburg, and the USF Health Sciences Auditorium. More info at www.jewishtampa.com or the Golda Meir/Kent Jewish Center website at www.gmkjc.org.
Hook's Kids College Fundraiser A party in honor of the late, much-beloved restaurateur Hook Atsavinh, owner of Hook's Sushi Bar and Thai Food in St. Pete, who died in January at the age of 44. Proceeds will go toward a college fund for Hook's children, Lauren, 4 and Jackson, 4 months. 6 p.m.-Midnight, Nova 535 Art Lounge, 535 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N., St. Petersburg, 727-821-6682 or nova535.com.
Reflections on Women and War A lecture by Israeli author Gail Hareven compares her experiences as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces with the experiences of her mother, who was also a writer and served as a paramedic in the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. Presented by the University of Tampa's Office of International Programs, the Department of English and Writing and the Women’s Studies Program. 10 a.m., Reeves Theater, University of Tampa. For more information, contact Brooke Pawlak at (813) 257-3501 or bpawlak@ut.edu.
This article appears in Mar 4-10, 2009.