The Mizel Arts and Culture Center at the Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center (Denver JCC) kicks off the 8^th annual JAAMM Fest – Jewish Authors, Artists, Music and Musicians – next Wednesday, Sept. 30 with a community read from New York Times bestselling author and architect Charles Belfoure. Other festival highlights include musical performances by Kinky Friedman and Michael Feinstein, a discussion with author and senior advisor to President Obama David Axelrod, a world premiere from Wonderbound Dance Company and documentary Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict about the life of art icon Peggy Guggenheim.

The five-week festival, running Sept. 30 through Nov. 5, has something for everyone – numerous author appearances and lectures, dynamic concerts by renowned Jewish and Israeli musicians, contemporary Jewish films and documentaries, educational workshops, an art exhibit, a poetry slam and several dance and theatre events.

Schedule:

Authors

Sept. 30 – Charles Belfoure, “The Paris Architect”
Oct. 9 – Evelyn Golden Shafner, “Champa Street”
Oct. 11 – Rabbi Joseph Black, “There Once Was a Man From Canaan: The Five Books of Limerick”
Oct. 11 – Megan Feldman, “Triumph of the Heart”
Oct. 11 – Dafna Michaelson Jenet, “It Takes a Little Crazy to Make a Difference”
Oct. 11 – Hannah Nordhaus, “American Ghost: A Family’s Haunted Past in the Desert Southwest”
Oct. 11 – David Axelrod, “Believer: My Forty Years in Politics”
Oct. 13 – Robert S. Weintraub, “No Better Friend: One Man, One Day and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII”
Oct. 16 – Karen Gooen, “Searching for Bubbe Fischer”
Oct. 18 – E.M. Rose, “The Murder of William of Norwich: The Origins of the Blood Libel in Medieval Europe”
Oct. 18 – A Novel Idea: Nicole Dweck “The Debt of Tamar,” Bernie Schein “Famous All Over Town” and Kim van Alkemade “Orphan Number Eight”
Oct. 20 – Christopher Nixon “Plus One”
Oct. 21 — Alan Lelchuk “Searching for Wallenberg”
Oct. 23 – Food For Thought: Jessica Fechtor, “Stir” and Chef Rossi, “The Raging Skillet: The True Life Story of Chief Rossi”
Oct. 23 – Kid’s Read: Leslie A. Kimmelman, “Everybody Says Shalom”
Oct. 25 – Leah Lax “Uncovered: How I left Hasidic Life and Finally Came Home.”
Dec. 6 – David Gregory “How’s your faith? An Unlikely Spiritual Journey”

Film

Oct. 11 – Deli Man from Director Erik Greenberg Anjou
Oct. 18 – Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict from Director Lisa Immordino Vreeland
Oct. 25 – Above and Beyond: The Birth of the Israeli Air Force from Producer Nancy Spielberg
Oct. 25 – Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem from Executive Producer Theodore Bikel and Director John Lollos

Music

Oct. 10 – Kinky Friedman
Oct. 11 – Yoshie Fruchter
Oct 14 – Yumi Hwang-Williams, concert master of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra
Oct. 22 – Michael Feinstein
Oct. 24 – Amet Peled

Dance

Oct. 17 – Vertigo Dance Company
Nov. 5 – Wonderbound with Hal Aqua and the Lost Tribe

Art

Oct. 1 through Dec. 21 – “Bereishit – Heaven and Earth: Paintings by Sandra Kaplan and James Cook”

Theatre

Oct. 1 – Nov. 8 – My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding
Oct. 15 – Poetry Slam: Hannah Halpern and Amina Iro

Lectures

Oct. 18 – 13th Annual Fred Marcus Memorial Holocaust Program
Oct. 18 – Annual Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado Seminar with Guest Speaker Ron Arons
Oct. 20 – Scholar in Residence Dr. Rachel Korazim, Seminar: “Hearing the Voice of Women: Exploring Poetry, Commentary and Prayer”
Oct. 21 – Scholar in Residence Dr. Rachel Korazim, Seminar: “Bialik: Modern Hebrew Poet of Memory and Hope”
Oct. 22 – Scholar in Residence Dr. Rachel Korazim, Seminar: “The Jewish Renaissance in Eastern and Central Europe”