Who says you can’t go home? On Saturday, March 9^th, ‘Neitzsche’ Ate Here returned to Washington D.C. for a private screening at the Jewish Community Center. Playwright, Roy C. Berkowitz, organized and facilitated the event to roughly 200 of the film’s supporters and close friends some of whom remember the play when it was performed at the Source Theatre not far from the JCC.

As the director of the film, I was overwhelmed by the warmth, generosity, and sincerity of the audience members who attended and financially backed the 23-minute film. What was also rewarding to me was to see the love and admiration that the audience members have for Roy. During the question and answer portion of the event, Roy mentioned that we never know just where some of the seeds that we plant will turn up. In this case, his work from years ago in writing the play found its way to a Canadian publisher who found its way to Ohio at a dinner theatre and cabaret. From there, it evolved into more stage productions and eventually a movie. From here, who knows where it will end up, but I have high hopes for audiences to fall in love with this story as much as the team who produced it did.

Still flying high from the experience in D.C. this past weekend, I am even more excited to begin the work on the film festival submission. Our audience in D.C. contributed over $1000 (and more is coming in) where we are now ready to start selecting the prestigious festivals around the world. Our plan is to submit to “Premier Required” or “Premier Preferred” festivals first as they are the Academy-qualifying events. In other words, if “Neitzsche” is selected by the jurors as best short film in these festivals, it will be considered for an Oscar®. While the film crew is hopeful, we have a lot of work yet to do, but the comments that some of you shared with us after the private screening give us much hope and encouragement. The following comments were sent to us with permission to use in our marketing and promotion materials:

"...the movie was great!!!  It captured the essence of your heart and
humor.  Just so beautifully filmed and acted.  I loved the texture and
richness - both aesthetically and emotionally."
             ~ Amy Beckman, Licensed Clinical Social Worker

"Amazing, the conflicting emotions evoked---while, in the same brief
time, the revelations of the story grew more profound and more
focused.  I cannot wait to see it again!''
              ~Michael Milano, Leadership Coach

“Somehow those actors, your words, that cinematography all came
together to create something in 23 minutes that I would not have
thought possible. The story showed the internal lives of two very
complex human beings, and the actors revealed their experiences and
their perspectives in such a rich and "felt" way that all of us were
irresistibly drawn in. You just wanted to know more.
It was kind of like life summed up; the always present and halting
pain and joy of having absolutely no idea what's coming next. I
remember a line that I read in a story once, and I wish I could
remember who wrote it, but it said something like this: that living is
like driving down a dark lonely country road in the middle of the
night and there are no street lights and you can't see beyond the
length that your headlights illuminate. And yet you keep driving
forward.”
                         ~Joan Garrity, Garrity Health Consulting & Training

“The movie was WONDERFUL.  I loved it. I thought the writing
was superb, the acting first rate, and that the movie-maker enhanced
the feelings of the characters by his thoughtful shooting and careful
editing.  I am a severe critic of movies, being a movie lover (and
having helped a California movie-maker named Dorothy Fadiman make a
movie some years ago which was nominated for an Academy Award—though
it didn’t win) and I think you have a winner.  I will not soon forget
it and am so, so glad I got to see it.”
                        ~Terry Beresford, Retired

Thank you all, once again, for your unbelievable hospitality, warmth, and generosity! If you would like to share your comments with us, please feel free to email either Roy or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . I look forward to seeing you all again.

Onward,

Matt Starr, Producer/Director

Kokosing River Productions, LLC