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Bits & Bytes: Dog Film Festival; ‘Displaced Persons’ talk; ‘Jazz for Justice;’ ‘Horses and Hikers for Healing;’ Patrick Stolfo exhibit

Nw York Times reporter Joseph Berger was born in Russia in 1945, spent the postwar years in displaced persons camps in Germany and, after immigrating to the U.S., grew up in Manhattan and the Bronx.

Dog Film Festival

A still from the film "The Poodle Trainer."
A still from the film “The Poodle Trainer.”

Great Barrington — Following its sold-out success in New York City, the Dog Film Festival will take over the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Sunday, August 14.

The festival is suitable for dog lovers of all ages and is comprised of two separate programs of entirely different canine-themed films. Each screening includes documentary, animated and live-action shorts that illuminate the human/canine bond, submitted by dog-loving filmmakers from around the world. Each screening is approximately 90 minutes long. The first program at 11 a.m. will feature a medley of light-hearted, animated and narrative shorts including “The Hardly Boys in Hardly Gold,” a 30-minute film by William Wegman starring four of his own Weimaraners in costume. The second screening, at 1:30 p.m., will showcase a more sophisticated program that includes a series of short documentaries, narratives and subtitled narrative films including “Second Chances,” a PBS film about dogs who are paired with incarcerated women who train them to become service dogs.

Tickets for the Dog Film Festival are $15 per screening. Fifty percent of net Festival proceeds will benefit the Berkshire Humane Society. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or call the Mahaiwe box office at (413) 528-0100.

–E.E.

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Joseph Berger to give talk on ‘Displaced Persons’

Joseph Berger.
Joseph Berger.

image002Great Barrington — On Friday, August 12, the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires’ Knosh & Knowledge program will present veteran New York Times reporter Joseph Berger, who will reflect on the story of the new lives that 140,000 Holocaust survivors and their children built in America. Berger is the author of “Displaced Persons: Growing Up American After the Holocaust,” a memoir about his family’s experience as refugees in New York in the 1950s and 1960s. The program will take place at 10:45 a.m. at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire and will be followed by lunch.

Berger was born in Russia in 1945, spent the postwar years in displaced persons camps in Germany and, after immigrating to the U.S., grew up in Manhattan and the Bronx. Berger was a reporter, editor, and columnist with the New York Times from 1984 to 2015, and is the author of “The World in a City” and “The Pious Ones.” Most recently he chronicled the building of a new Tappan Zee Bridge, the first major bridge built in the New York area in half a century, in an occasional Times series.

Admission is $11, which includes a buffet lunch. Participants may attend the program only for $5. Advance reservations for lunch are required. For more information or to make reservations, contact the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires at (413) 442-4360 x10 or jfb.officemanager@verizon.net.

–E.E.

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‘Jazz for Justice’ fundraiser

Alford – On Sunday, August 14, from 3:30 – 6:30 p.m., the Berkshire Center for Justice will celebrate its 10th anniversary with “Jazz for Justice,” to be held at “The Clearing,” 247 East St. The event will feature live jazz music by the Darren Todd and Friends Jazz Band, original poetry by Ted Thomas, wine, and hors d’oeuvres. Tickets are $35. Space is limited. For more information or to reserve tickets, call (413) 854-1955.

–E.E.

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‘Horses and Hikers for Healing’ equestrian event

Berkshire HorseWorks founder Haley Sumner.
Berkshire HorseWorks founder Haley Sumner.

Richmond – On Saturday, August 13, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Berkshire HorseWorks will present “A Scavenger Hunt: Horses and Hikers for Healing” at the Berkshire Equestrian Center. The event will include a hike/scavenger hunt through Berkshire Natural Resources Council’s Hollow Fields property, prizes and a barbecue hoedown. Registration is $35 for a single person and $55 for a team/family of up to five members. For more information or to register, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact Haley Sumner at (310) 488-9777 or info@berkshirehorseworks.com.

–E.E.

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Sculptor Patrick Stolfo to exhibit work

"Infant Tondo" by Patrick Stolfo.
“Infant Tondo” by Patrick Stolfo.

Chatham, New York – Camphill Ghent will host “Form Follows Movement,” an exhibit of the sculpture and drawings of Patrick Stolfo, in its Joan Allen Art Gallery through the end of September. An opening reception will be held on Friday, August 12, from 4 – 6 p.m., during which Stolfo will speak briefly about his work. Refreshments will follow.

Patrick Stolfo was born in Detroit, Michigan, and studied fine arts at Wayne State University and art at Emerson College in England where he apprenticed under John Wilkes. He studied education at Mercy College of Detroit. He is a co-founder and core faculty member of the Hawthorne Valley Alkion Center. He has been an adjunct instructor at Antioch University New England and the Center for Anthroposophy in Wilton, New Hampshire, for more than 25 years. He lives in Ghent, New York.

For more information, call Camphill Ghent at (518) 392-2760.

–E.E.

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