Event

The Little Traitor

In Person: Long Island-born Filmmaker LYNN ROTH on Saturday, March 12 at 7pm

Members: $9 / Public: $13 / includes Reception
Based on the novel Panther in the Basement by the world renowned author Amos
Oz, Little Traitor takes place in 1947 Palestine, just a few months before
Israel becomes a state. Proffy Liebowitz, a militant yet sensitive twelve year old,
has grown up under British occupation and wants nothing more than for the
occupying British to get out of his land. Proffy and his two friends are always
plotting ways to terrorize the British until one evening, while he's out after curfew;
Proffy is seized by Sergeant Dunlop (Alfred Molina). Instead of arresting
him, Sergeant Dunlop escorts him back home and a friendship begins to develop
in the following weeks. Proffy starts to consider Dunlop a father figure, as his
own father is cold and remote. Dunlop, lonely and poetic, loves the spirited boy
and reads the Book of Samuel, Dunlap's favorite part of the Bible. Proffy helps
Dunlap with his Hebrew while Dunlap teaches Proffy difficult English words and
provides the fatherly guidance missing in Proffy's life. As neighborhood tensions
escalate between the British and the underground Jewish rebellion, their
relationship becomes increasingly complicated. While Proffy has learned a great deal from his mentor, he is also shunned by his friends for
this friendship and thus called a "traitor" by his neighbors and community. The resulting trial and shock that he could have such genuine
affection for his "enemy" will change Proffy's life forever.