SOMETHING FOR HALLOWEEN:

Annual festival toasts the best of Jewish cinema

Darren Levin (Australian Jewish News)

GARY Lucas, an acclaimed New York-based guitarist who has performed with the likes of Nick Cave, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, will open the 2007 Festival of Jewish Cinema in Melbourne and Sydney next month.

Lucas, who co-wrote two tracks on Jeff Buckley’s Grace (the title track and Mojo Pin), will perform an original live score for a screening of the 1920s silent film The Golem.

A German expressionist classic, the film recounts an ancient Jewish legend about a 16th-century rabbi who made a man out of clay to save his community.

Often referred to as the precursor to Frankenstein, the film was shot by Karl Freund, who worked on Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and FW Murnau’s The Last Laugh. Lucas has performed The Golem in more than 15 countries.

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For more on The Golem, including a picture, see here.

UPDATE: And then there's "Beware of White Cats!" in which Tyler Williams reflects on Mespotamian omen texts such as:

If a white cat is seen in a man’s house — (for) that land hardship will seize it.
If a black cat is seen in a man’s house — that land will experience good fortune.

My take: if any kind of cat is in your house, you'll experience good fortune.