Wide Angle

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Hank Greenberg was like Babe Ruth in 1940s America: An outstanding baseball player who was just as talented, just as popular. But the story of how he became a champion despite those who questioned his Jewish heritage went untold until Aviva Kempner stepped in.

As one of America8217;s most successful documentary film-makers, it has been Kempner8217;s mission to illuminate the lives of those who defy stereotypes, particularly under-appreciated Jewish American heroes.

In the award-winning documentary, The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg8212;screened at the Kerala and Chennai Film Festivals during her first trip to India8212;Kempner interweaves old film clips, photos and music throughout the narrative, expertly using pop culture of the time to frame the larger issue of prejudice and suspicion that haunted America during Greenberg8217;s World War II-era career.

She also showed her works to documentary film-makers around India and used them as a springboard to discuss another issue: Her own trials and tribulations while making just three full-length features over a career spanning 25 years.

Kempner is known in the US for her painstakingly detailed style of film-making, often achieved at a cost. Gaining the rights to use other people8217;s music, photos and film clips can be financially crippling, which is why it took Kempner 13 years to raise the funds to tell Greenberg8217;s story.

Yet the film made 1.7 million after its theatrical release8212;an enormous success for a documentary, even in the US, and something possible, Kempner says, because of a better appreciation for documentary film-making in America. 8216;8216;India has a tougher fight ahead. While documentaries are screened on TV, it8217;s a shame they8217;re not shown in theatres,8217;8217; Kempner says.

Draped in a bright green dupatta and colour-coordinated eye shadow, Kempner has a strangely plain, yet engaging demeanour, and she assesses the film scene in India with deliberate candour: 8220;I8217;m impressed with the prominence film-making gets in India, but there8217;s a lot of growth to be made, especially in the documentary genre.8217;8217;

Most importantly, she insists, different documentary subjects need to be explored. True to her love of heritage and people8217;s roots, Kempner says, 8216;8216;I8217;d love to see a film about the lives of indentured servants who left India in the 1800s.8217;8217;

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It was a young Indian woman named Gigi, renting out the basement of Kempner8217;s home in Washington DC, who inspired her to work on her current film project, Bolly Marriage.

8216;8216;Here was a young, smart attorney who was scared to death to tell her family she was dating an American,8217;8217; says Kempner.

Though the topic of arranged marriages in America and India strays from her normal fare,it8217;s not such a leap. Kempner8217;s own Jewish grandparents had an arranged marriage in Lithuania but divorced after 15 years and 10 children, sparking Kempner8217;s interest in why and how marriages drive people to emotional battles. Though still in the process of gathering funds for Bolly Marriage, Kempner hopes to shoot much of it in India.

In the meantime she8217;ll return to the US with the agenda of encouraging film-makers to set their sights on India: 8216;8216;There8217;s the Mumbai International Film Festival coming up. I8217;ll try to get Americans to apply.8217;8217;