Enlarge Jill Blumenthal (left) and Arissa El-Amin lead the discussion at the Levine Jewish Community Center.

Posted: March 29th, 2011 Greg Lacour

On an already gloomy Sunday afternoon, the lights inside the Lerner Center for Cultural Arts dimmed, and stories began unfolding on the big screen; stories of despair, encouragement, frustration and hope.

They were the four Crossroads Charlotte scenario movies that thousands across Charlotte have seen and pondered. On this day, March 27, they were finding a new audience – about 15 people at the Levine Jewish Community Center in South Charlotte, which showed the films and hosted a panel discussion afterward as an addendum to the Charlotte Jewish Film Festival.

“They did a really good job with the films – the production quality, the acting, making them come alive,” said Debby Block, the festival’s film curator. “They have a universal message that’s for everybody, whether you’re Jewish or not … ‘Help out your neighbors. Don’t be a bystander. It’s not about you, it’s about us.’ No one understands that better than the Jewish people.”

Since 2005, the festival has screened Jewish-themed films for ever-growing audiences with the help of such sponsors as the Arts & Science Council and Mecklenburg Ministries. This year, Crossroads joined the list of sponsors for the seventh annual festival, held March 3-13. In return, the festival agreed to show the Crossroads films.

But Block didn’t want to show them during the festival because they aren’t explicitly Jewish in theme, and she thought they lent themselves to discussion rather than just passive viewing. So she, Crossroads consultant Arissa El-Amin and Jill Blumenthal from Foundation For The Carolinas set up a separate event.

After the screenings, discussion turned mainly to the first and most nightmarish scenario: “Fortress Charlotte.”

“I work in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and I don’t see good things happening in Charlotte because of what’s happening with the school system,” said Ruth Paul, who teaches in Bright Beginnings, the CMS pre-K program that’s targeted for cuts. “I hope we don’t become a fortress.”

“I don’t know what the problem is – I can’t define it – but the solution is education,” said Larry Miller. “I know I don’t want Fortress Charlotte ... so maybe it's not a bad thing to put some fear into people.”

Blumenthal told the crowd to keep in mind that the scenarios are, in more ways than one, projections; they’re meant to illustrate the choices we all have in shaping Charlotte’s future.

“One thing I like about Crossroads is that this movie is a starting point,” she said. “It’s not an end.”

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