Native son to screen film about African poverty

Jeremy Levine, a Beverly native, will present his new film, GOOD FORTUNE at the Salem Film Festival. The documentary focuses on poverty in Kenya, and how international aid efforts may actually be undermining local communities.

The film screens at CinemaSalem on Feb. 27 at 4:15 p.m. Levine will be present afterwards at a Q&A.

In addition, his acclaimed 2005 film WALKING THE LINE about immigrants on the U.S./Mexican border, will also be shown several times.

The Journal recently spoke with Levine.

JJ: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
JL: Growing up, I had great teachers at public and Hebrew school, and fantastic parents who drilled the need to be involved in the world and help those less fortunate.

JJ: Did you go to film school?
JL: I went to Ithaca College. It was there that I met Landon Van Soest, co-director of WALKING THE LINE and director of GOOD FORTUNE.

JJ: How long were you in Africa?
JL: I was in Kenya for a few months spread out over two trips.

JJ: What has reaction been to GOOD FORTUNE?
JL: It’s been amazing to screen the film in Brazil or New York and listen to the audience talk about how the same things are happening here. I always hoped we were working with universal themes. It’s an honor for me to bring the film home.

JJ: What are you working on now?
JL: Landon and I are producing a supplementary video exploring progressive approaches to international development to support the P.O.V. broadcast of GOOD FORTUNE this summer. We are in post-production on a short documentary about a fisherman in Kenya struggling to provide for his family. We are also developing a new documentary exploring the global implications of Bolivia’s lithium production, and working on a murder mystery in Poland.