Canada, Holocaust on film

JANNETTE EDMONDS SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

When film producer Dan Schlanger's two kids ran up to hug him after the advance screening of his new documentary on noted local architect Arthur Erickson, it made all the long hours away from them worth it. Forget the presence of top CBC brass, local filmmakers and dignitaries, son Tamir, 13, and daughter Roni, 11, made his night.

"I am not being schmaltzy," he said, "They are the most important part of my life." And a very interesting life it is, full of a love of history, a passion to tell about the Holocaust, a drive to make films about Canada's artistic talents and an appreciation of a country he has called home for only five years.

"I am a lucky man, surrounded by extraordinarily talented people. As a producer, I bring together a family of talent, making sure that we are all working on the same film, a team. We spend more time with our colleagues than our family!"

His latest team effort allowed him to look into the "fascinating, complex personality, the amazing life" of Erickson for the CBC show Life and Times, which aired Feb. 3. It is a stunning glimpse into the life of the very private man who revolutionized architecture with his plan for the Vancouver Law Courts, the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia and many other famous works.

The documentary reflects Schlanger's passion for Canada's "artistic icons" and his next project is promising to be an intimate look into the life of ballerina Evelyn Hart.

"Making these movies is, for me, paying back something," he said. "I am very grateful to Canada and that I can live here. As a newcomer, you can see from a different perspective. People who live here all the time sometimes tend to forget that these remarkable [Canadian artists] are who they are."

Schlanger immigrated to Canada in 1999 with his wife, Dana, who is now the director of the Dina Wosk School for Performing Arts, and their two children. The family came from Israel, where they had lived for 15 years after immigrating there from Bucharest, Romania. They didn't know a soul when they arrived and Schlanger credits Shalom Vancouver (now Shalom B.C.) for making the transition easier.

"We sent an e-mail to Shalom Vancouver, not knowing if we would hear back. And they responded right away. We were so surprised to get a response so soon, welcoming us and sending us information. They were very nice and inviting. It was great."

After a week and a half in Vancouver, his wife found a job and he started to meet people. One of the things that attracted him to the city, besides the weather and the scenery, was the well-established film industry. He met writer, director, producer Gordon McLennan, who wrote and directed the Erickson documentary and for whom Schlanger has great praise. The two worked together on last year's feature film My Life Without Me.

A long way from home

Schlanger was born in Bucharest in 1955, an only child to parents who struggled to maintain their Jewish identity in the midst of communism. He was interested in the arts early on and became an actor in the Yiddish theatre there. "A miracle that it survived and flourished during those times," he said. "It was a difficult time but interesting."

He worked at the Jewish community centre, alongside his wife, where they were both in charge of culture. He calls himself a survivor of communism. Always wanting to move to Israel, they finally struggled to leave.

"There were big problems to leave Romania," said Schlanger. "It was a long and tense period of waiting and probably our memory is selective, as we are trying to forget the tough times, how scared and tense we were. When we finally left, I could hardly believe it was happening. Not until I saw the first Israelis in front of my eyes did I really believe I had left."

They arrived in Israel without knowing a word of Hebrew and Schlanger still found work as an actor, eventually working with the National Youth Theatre and starting up his own production company, where he produced many Holocaust documentaries. His passion to tell that story grew, now that he was free from the constraints of communism where "one had to be careful what one said or thought." He watched 200 hours of testimony for one project and couldn't sleep for a week.

Connected to his Jewish identity through culture rather than religion, "though I have tremendous respect for the religious," he said it is the Holocaust that keeps him Jewish. "My Jewishness is very much connected to the Holocaust.

"It is part of my pledge to every year try to do some type of Holocaust project. Because I believe there is not much time to keep the memory and the lessons of it alive. And as part of my Jewishness, I am not allowed to keep my mouth shut. Unfortunately we, as a human race, don't learn much from the past and our memory is very short."

With some success in Israel, why make a big move to yet another country, this time at 45 instead of 30?

"You don't always leave a place because it is bad and the next place is good. There just comes a moment when you have to move on. You need a change in your life. You need to do something. That is the story of my life," he laughed, "always wanting something new."

Life was good in Tel-Aviv but they felt they had to move on. Perhaps it is the challenge of "something new" that keeps Schlanger motivated and moving. The name of his production company is a telling sign. Dilemma Productions promises as its mission statement to "answer your dilemmas" and Schlanger believes that making movies is a constant dilemma.

"It is a dilemma on different levels, how to finance and how to get the best talent and how to do the best job we can." But he feels fortunate. "I love what I do. I am living my dream. It is a rewarding job.

"I want to make movies that will be watched and movies that I will be proud to show my kids," he added.

If his future films are as good as his recent ones, there will be many more proud hugs from his kids ahead.

Jannette Edmonds is a Vancouver freelance writer.

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