Do You Remember a Movie About a Witch Who Makes Blueberry Pancakes?

Posted on May 18, 2011 at 8:00 am

If you remember seeing a movie in school about a witch who made magical blueberry pancakes, then you must be in your late 30’s or early 40’s. The New York Times has a great piece by Jennifer Mendelsohn about how that film, Winter of the Witch, continues to enthrall some of the children who saw it in 1969-the 70’s.  It is a simple, short film made on a very low budget, but it features the distinguished actress Hermione Gingold as the witch and Anna Strasburg (wife of the great acting teacher) as a single mother who moves with her son into a house with a witch who cooks magical pancakes that make people happy.

By all rights the quirky little production should have faded away, just like the quaintly dated turtlenecks and headscarves it features. But something about “Winter of the Witch” burrowed its way into the consciousness of a subset of children who saw it, and it never left, leading many to search for it well into adulthood.  “Those colored dots must have burned themselves into some peoples’ brains,” wrote Gerald Herman, who directed the low-budget film for $500 while a student at New York University, in an e-mail.

It has inspired a blog, The Cult of the Happy Pancake Witch, where you can watch the whole film.

 

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Live Together — from Nationlight

Posted on April 15, 2011 at 5:51 pm

From Marc Erlbaum of Nationlight Productions:

Anyone following the world news the past couple months is aware that something huge is brewing.  Is it good or bad – that’s not clear quite yet.  But what is clear is that the internet is changing everything and giving us all the incredible ability to impact things far beyond our former reach.  An email shoots around the globe instantly and who knows how many people are affected by it.  Individuals and groups worldwide can bond, encourage, and support one another, and millions of people who have been restricted to propaganda from their censored and state-controlled media are now exposed to global views and brand new possibilities.

With this in mind, we decided to reach out to people all over the world to help make a 3 minute video to encourage tolerance, coexistence, and peace.  Not sure how far it will go, but we figured it was worth a try and at the very least a handful of us have spent a few minutes trying to do something rather than just waiting to see what happens.  There’s always the possibility that it could strike a chord and get passed around, and if even 1 person somewhere sees this and is moved to stand up against corruption and violence, then it will have been worth the time.  Please watch it, and it would be great if you could forward it on to your friends/lists. It’s amazing how tremendous an impact one can achieve with a few minutes and a simple push of a button in our ultra-networked world.  Thanks for your time and your help!

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