The Ciesla Foundation presents:
A film by Aviva Kempner
Tuesday, July 28th 2009
Castro Theatre429 Castro St.San Francisco, CA 94114Website: fest.sfjff.com Directions: map
Friday, July 19th 2009
Avalon Theater5612 Connecticut Ave., NWWashington, DC 20015Website: www.theavalon.com
Friday, July 17th 2009
Avalon Theater5612 Connecticut Ave., NWWashington, DC 20015Website: www.theavalon.com Directions: map
Friday, July 10th 2009-Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg will have its Theatrical Release at Lincoln Plaza Cinema
Lincoln Plaza Cinema1886 BroadwayNew York, NY 10023Website: www.lincolnplazacinema.com Directions: maps
Friday, July 10th 2009-Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg at Quad Cinema
Quad Cinema34 West 13th St.New York, NY 10011Website: www.quadcinema.com Directions: maps
Thursday, June 25th 2009 – “Reel Pieces” moderator Annette Insdorf will interview director Aviva Kempner the award-winning filmmaker of “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg” after the showing of her new movie "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg".
92nd Street Y1395 Lexington AvenueNew York, New York 10128Website: www.92y.org Directions: maps
Tuesday, June 23rd 2009 – How perfect is it? 20 years ago Aviva was the founding director of the Washington Jewish Film Festival, and now she and Mrs. Goldberg will kick off the festival’s special anniversary season with the film’s DC premiere. Join us at the Washington, DC JCC.
7:30 PMThe Irwin P. Edlavitch Building1529 16th Street, NWWashington, DC 20036Directions: maps
Wednesday, June 3rd 2009 - The Center for Jewish History and the American Jewish Historical Society present:
The Center for Jewish History15 West 16th StreetNew York, NY 10011Phone: (212) 294-8301 Website: http://www.cjh.org/ Directions: maps
Wednesday, May 13th 2009 - Join us opening night at the historic Little Theatre in Rochester, NY for the High Falls Film Festival world premiere of "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg".
7:00 PMLittle Theater240 East Ave.Rochester, NYWebsite: www.thelittle.org/ Directions: maps
3:00 PMPolitics and Prose5015 Connecticut Ave NWWashington, DC 20008Website: www.politics-prose.com/ Phone: 202-364-1919
12:00-1:00 PMLibrary of CongressMary Pickford TheaterThird FloorMadison Building101 Independence Ave, S.E.Washington, DC 20540Website: www.loc.gov/index.html
Free and Open to the Public
Monday, April 27th 2009 - Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg Work in Progess Screeing at the Seattle Jewish Film Festival. Our film will be shown along with At Home in Utopia on Monday, April 27 at 6:30 at the SIFF CINEMA AT MCCAW HALL. For more informations please go to: www.seattlejewishfilmfestival.org/film/
Monday, April 27th 2009 - Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg Work In Progress Screening at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival. Our film will be shown along with At Home in Utopia on Monday, April 27 at 7:30 at the Laemmle’s Music Hall in Beverly Hills. For more information go to www.lajfilmfest.org
Wednesday, March 25th 2009 - Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg Work in Progress Screening at The New Jersey Jewish Film Festival
12:30 PMLeon & Toby Cooperman JCC760 Northfield AvenueWest Orange, New JerseyWebsite: www.jccmetrowest.org Phone: 973-530-3444
Sunday, March 15th 2009 -

January 22, 2009 -
Upcoming Work In Progress Screenings!
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
New Jersey Jewish Film Festival: March 19-29th
San Diego Jewish Film Festival: Wednesday, February 11th
please attend at the JCC Garfield Theatre at 12pm
"Aviva Kempner shares with us the amazing life and career of Gertrude Berg, the creator, writer and star of The Goldbergs, a radio show that debuted in 1929 and subsequently became a popular weekly TV program (1949–1956). Berg pioneered the family sitcom that was to become TV’s most enduring format—remarkably with an outwardly Jewish family that wore its immigrant heritage on its sleeve. Berg pushed the boundaries not only of television’s possibilities, but also of women’s roles in the entertainment industry."
November 7, 2008 - Watch Aviva Kempner interview on Mosaic show with host Barbara Kay in Florida
June 1, 2008 - The Ciesla Foundation received a prestigious $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts towards the making of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg. The grant will pay for a number of post-production items, including editing, sound mixing, and music design/composing.
May 9, 2008 - The work-in-progress of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg was featured at the 2008 Toronto Jewish Film Festival as part of their COMEDY ON WRY: THE MAVERICKS program. The series put the spotlight on Jewish icons that have had a particularly profound influence and impact in North America--genuine trailblazers who broke new ground and who have attained legendary status. Women who were showcased included Sophie Tucker, Fanny Brice, and Gertrude Berg. The festival also featured an airing of two episodes of The Goldbergs.
April 13, 2008 - Aviva Kempner will attend the 8th Dayton Jewish International Film Festival, which is presenting 18 screenings films and shorts, including the work-in-progress of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg. She will appear on a panel at Speaking at Works in Progress Symposium, April 13, 1:00 pm, to discuss Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg and its themes.
April 4, 2008 - Aviva Kempner will attend the 2008 Maine Jewish Film Festival which explores the Jewish Experience of Labor through the lens of a number of films, including the work-in-progress of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg. Aviva will appear on a panel on April 4 from 12:00 - 3:30 at the University of Southern Maine, 96 Falmouth Street, Gerald E. Talbot Lecture Hall. She will talk about Gertrude Berg and her co-star and blacklisted labor activist Philip Loeb. In 1951 Berg took a stand against the Blacklist, refusing to fire Loeb. Loeb resigned to prevent the show's cancellation and later committed suicide. The negative impact McCarthyism had on Hollywood is more widely known than the horrible consequences it had for New York-based blacklisted actors. Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg examines this issue and a number of other critical events of the 20th century.
March 26, 2008 - Aviva Kempner will discuss Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg at the inaugural Clendenen Conference "With Vision Flying": New Perspectives on Women's and Gender History, sponsored by the department of history at American University. The conference will be held on the campus of American University in Washington, DC.
February 22, 2008 - See the 80th Academy Award Nominees free! Join Aviva Kempner and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the William G. McGowan Theater at the National Archives on February 22. The Center for the National Archives Experience will host the fourth annual free screenings of the Academy Award® nominees in four categories—Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Live Action Short Film, and Animated Short Film—from Wednesday, February 20, through Sunday, February 24. They will be introduced by distinguished members of the Washington, DC, film community including filmmaker Aviva Kempner; Ann Hornaday, film critic for the Washington Post; and Flo Stone, artistic director of the DC Environmental Film Festival.
November 3, 2007 - From among former residents of the MacDowell Art Colony, America's oldest artist-in-residence program, Aviva Kempner's work-in-progress Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg has been included in the Colony's 100th anniversary Centennial Film Series. The touring exhibition is free of charge at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Films begin with Seasons of MacDowell, the film created for the Centennial, followed by Aviva Kempner’s presentation of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg at approximately 4:30 pm.
The National Gallery of Art is located at 4th and Constitution Avenue NW in Washington, DC.
The series will also be screening at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire September 10-20, 2007.
For more information on the MacDowell Centennial Film Series, visit http://www.macdowellcolony.org/centennial/film.html
October 7, 2007 - As part of the Washington Jewish Literary Festival, Gertrude Berg's biographer Dr. Glenn D. Smith, Jr. and Aviva Kempner will give a presentation at the Washington, DC Jewish Community Center, starting at 11:00 am. Dr. Smith will speak about his new book "Something on My Own" Gertrude Berg and American Broadcasting, 1929–1956 and Ms. Kempner will screen the work-in-progress of her film Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg. The event also includes a brunch. The Washington, DC JCC is located at 16 & Q streets NW. For more information about this event, contact the JCC at 202-581-9400. Cost: $15, members $10
September 23-24, 2007 - Aviva Kempner will present her work at the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg will be screened on Sunday, September 23 at 4:00 pm, followed by a discussion. On the following day, Monday, September 24, Aviva Kempner will discuss her current work-in-progress, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg at 7:30 pm.
July 8, 2007 - Paper Bridge Summer Arts Festival On the opening day of the National Yiddish Book Center’s Paper Bridge Summer Arts Festival in Amherst, MA, Aviva Kempner will present her work-in-progress film, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, and answer questions afterwards. The presentation will begin at 2:00 pm, and tickets cost $10. The Paper Bridge Summer Arts Festival will run July 8-19. For more information visit the Yiddish Book Center Website or Buy tickets
June 28, 2007 - Aviva Kempner will present the work in progress of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg at The Berlin Jewish Film Festival. The festival will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of actor Zero Mostel’s death with a screening of The Front, in which Mostel plays Philip Loeb, the co-star of The Goldbergs and a subject of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg. Both The Front and Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg honor the memory of Philip Loeb, an activist for actors’ rights who was driven to suicide after being blacklisted during the Red Scare. Aviva Kempner’s discussion and screening will take place in the Kino Arsenal, Sony Film Haus, Potsdamer Platz at 7:00 pm.
May 30, 2007 - Syracuse University Press has published the compelling biography Something On My Own: Gertrude Berg and American Broadcasting 1929-1956 by Glenn D. Smith, Jr. The book is available in bookstores or can be ordered directly from the publisher. For more information visit http://www.syracuseuniversitypress.syr.edu/order-form.html.
May 2, 2007 - The work-in-progress Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg has been selected as part of a traveling exhibit of select films celebrating the MacDowell Colony's Centennial. Aviva Kempner's work, along with other former fellows of the MacDowell Colony, premiered at the MOMA in New York City on May 2, 2007, and is now traveling the country.
February 28, 2007 - Aviva Kempner, Beth Mendelson and Nina Gilden Seavey were featured speakers at February's Evenings with Extraordinary Artists hosted by The Arts Club. This monthly event introduces area artists to Arts Club members. Aviva screened the work-in-progress of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg and discussed her other films. Beth discussed her far-ranging career in news and documentary production. Nina screened clips from her extensive oeuvre and discuss the programs of The Documentary Center at The George Washington University.
January 23, 2007 - This spring a new biography of Gertrude Berg hits the shelves. Something on My Own: Gertrude Berg and American Broadcasting by Glenn D. Smith, Jr. will use Gertrude Berg's personal papers to provide a close look at this amazing television personality. The book will be released this spring on Syracuse University Press. To see more information please visit the book's catalog listing.