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Some of the best films and TV series ever produced got their start as novels and short stories. In this new bi-annual series, From Page to Screen, we’ll explore a seminal work from one iconic and one contemporary Jewish writer and learn how their stories are transformed from page to screen. Presented by GPJFF in partnership with other Arts & Culture organizations and institutions located in the Greater Philadelphia region.

THE CHOSEN is a 1981 drama based on the best-selling book of the same name by Chaim Potok. Set in Brooklyn in 1944, two Jewish boys become unlikely friends. Danny Saunders is a traditional Orthodox kid, spending his days amidst his Hasidic community and answering to his Rebbe father, while Reuven Malter is a middle-class Modern Orthodox Jewish teenager, the son of a liberal college professor and dedicated Zionist. The issues of tradition, parental expectations, and the formation of Israel cause friction, but they don’t keep the boys from exploring each other’s different worlds.

Starring Oscar winners Maximilian Schell and Rod Steiger, THE CHOSEN will screen on what would have been Potok’s 90th birthday.