RAISE THE ROOF IN THE NEWS

4.6.16  Rick and Laura Brown have led many efforts to recreate historical buildings and artifacts since 2002, when they founded the Handshouse Studio in Norwell, Mass., but nothing compares to the 10 years they spent coordinating hundreds of vo… — **4.6.16** Rick and Laura Brown have led many efforts to recreate historical buildings and artifacts since 2002, when they founded the Handshouse Studio in Norwell, Mass., but nothing compares to the 10 years they spent coordinating hundreds of volunteers in the reconstruction of an 18th-century Polish synagogue…
**Read More** from the New Hampshire Union Leader

3.9.16  More than 70 years after the last congregants prayed in it, the beautiful Gwozdziec Synagogue in Poland is once again inspiring awe — in the hundreds of visitors coming to see the recreated bima, roof, and painting ceiling of the histor… — **3.9.16** More than 70 years after the last congregants prayed in it, the beautiful Gwozdziec Synagogue in Poland is once again inspiring awe — in the hundreds of visitors coming to see the recreated *bima*, roof, and painting ceiling of the historic wooden structure in the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw…
**Read More** from the New Jersey Jewish News

11.11.15  Dozens of (Oberlin) alumni over the course of six years participated in a history-making effort to replicate an 18th-century Polish synagogue that was burned to the ground by Nazis. They worked shoulder to shoulder with an internation… — **11.11.15** Dozens of (Oberlin) alumni over the course of six years participated in a history-making effort to replicate an 18th-century Polish synagogue that was burned to the ground by Nazis. They worked shoulder to shoulder with an international crew of of master timber craftsmen, artisans, historians, and other experts specializing in traditional woodwork and polychrome painting to reconstruct the ornamented wooden ceiling and roof of a synagogue…
**Read More** from the Oberlin News Center

11.1.15 Now, a new documentary, “Raise the Roof,” takes viewers behind the scenes with the unlikely and inspiring story of how Rick and Laura Brown, a husband-wife team of artists and visionary educators from Boston, led an international team of more than 300 students, artisans and scholars to recreate this magnificent architectural gem, a little known but significant piece of Jewish history that had been nearly lost.

Read More from myCentralJersey.com

10.29.15  Almost 10 years ago, the Vilna Shul hosted an exhibit, “Continuity:  Traditions of Jewish Art and Architecture,” that featured handmade models of one of Poland’s historic 17th-century wooden synagogues. It was accompanied by a se… — **10.29.15** Almost 10 years ago, the Vilna Shul hosted an exhibit, “Continuity: Traditions of Jewish Art and Architecture,” that featured handmade models of one of Poland’s historic 17th-century wooden synagogues. It was accompanied by a series of newly recreated half-scale panels of the intricately painted, richly colored ceiling of another wooden synagogue, from the early 18th century.
**Read More** from the Beacon Hill Times

10.1.15  The “Raise the Roof” project began in 2003 when a traditional carpenter who also teaches at New York University showed the Browns a photograph of one of these vanished wooden synagogues, asking whether they’d be interested in reproduci… — **10.1.15** The “Raise the Roof” project began in 2003 when a traditional carpenter who also teaches at New York University showed the Browns a photograph of one of these vanished wooden synagogues, asking whether they’d be interested in reproducing such an edifice full-scale.
**Read More** from the Cleveland Jewish News

9.30.15   Every year Tucson hosts eight very different film festivals, from the vast Arizona International Film Festival bringing pictures here from every part of the globe, to the very specific genre-munching Tucson Terrorfest.Read More from B… — **9.30.15** Every year Tucson hosts eight very different film festivals, from the vast Arizona International Film Festival bringing pictures here from every part of the globe, to the very specific genre-munching Tucson Terrorfest.

**Read More from Biz Tucson**

9.30.15  It’s been almost one year since Israeli president Reuven Rivlin delivered a stirring speech at the opening ceremonies of Warsaw’s glistening new POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. “It is not a museum of the Holocaust, it is a … — **9.30.15** It’s been almost one year since Israeli president Reuven Rivlin delivered a stirring speech at the opening ceremonies of Warsaw’s glistening new POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. “It is not a museum of the Holocaust, it is a museum of life,” Rivlin proclaimed, echoing the mission of the museum that tells the 1,000-year history of how Jews lived in Poland, and not only how they died…
**Read More from The Times of Isreal**

9.29.15  The festival will also include the Arizona premiere of “Raise the Roof,” an 84-minute documentary that follows and honors the work of Rick and Laura Brown, a husband-and-wife architectural team from Boston whose mission was to restore… — **9.29.15** The festival will also include the Arizona premiere of “Raise the Roof,” an 84-minute documentary that follows and honors the work of Rick and Laura Brown, a husband-and-wife architectural team from Boston whose mission was to restore the timber roof of the Gwoździec Synagogue in Warsaw…
**Read More from Green Valley News**

9.27.15  Out of the ashes…a synagogue is reborn in Poland.  Documentary "Raise the Roof" premiers October 8 in Tucson.Read More from Arizona Jewish Life — **9.27.15** Out of the ashes…a synagogue is reborn in Poland. Documentary "Raise the Roof" premiers October 8 in Tucson.
**Read More from Arizona Jewish Life**

7.23.15  The creative and artistic contributions of the Jewish people, their history and cultural traditions are at the heart of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, now in its 35th year and opening July 23. Those themes are also at the… — **7.23.15** The creative and artistic contributions of the Jewish people, their history and cultural traditions are at the heart of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, now in its 35th year and opening July 23. Those themes are also at the heart of the SFJFF documentary “Raise the Roof…
**Read More from the San Francisco Examiner**

7.6.15  It takes courage and vision to set students to work creating a life-size version of the Sphinx’ missing nose or building a huge medieval trebuchet siege weapon to scale. Rick and Laura Brown, art teachers at Mass. College of Art, r… — **7.6.15** It takes courage and vision to set students to work creating a life-size version of the Sphinx’ missing nose or building a huge medieval trebuchet siege weapon to scale. Rick and Laura Brown, art teachers at Mass. College of Art, recreate ancient objects using period tools and materials.
**Read More from Wicked Local Plymouth**

7.1.15  “How often do you get a chance to reach deep into history and bring something back?” That’s the question Rick Brown poses in the opening frames of Raise the Roof, a new documentary that screens on Monday, July 13.Read More&nbs… — **7.1.15** “How often do you get a chance to reach deep into history and bring something back?” That’s the question Rick Brown poses in the opening frames of Raise the Roof, a new documentary that screens on Monday, July 13.
**Read More from Monterey News (page 16)**

5.8.15  How long does it take for the high hopes of an unlikely dream to come true? In the case of Boston-based artists and visionary educators Rick and Laura Brown, it's been about a decade…Read More from the Jewish Advocate — **5.8.15** How long does it take for the high hopes of an unlikely dream to come true? In the case of Boston-based artists and visionary educators Rick and Laura Brown, it's been about a decade…
**Read More from the Jewish Advocate**

5.7.15  The historic film footage of a burning wooden synagogue in Poland is disturbing to watch but it conveys the loss that spurred a monumental effort to recover history.Read More from the Patriot Ledger — **5.7.15** The historic film footage of a burning wooden synagogue in Poland is disturbing to watch but it conveys the loss that spurred a monumental effort to recover history.
**Read More from the Patriot Ledger**

4.29.15  More than a decade ago, art professors Rick and Laura Brown posted a flyer advertising a new studio art class at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, where they are longtime faculty members. The poster featured a… — **4.29.15** More than a decade ago, art professors Rick and Laura Brown posted a flyer advertising a new studio art class at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, where they are longtime faculty members. The poster featured an old photograph of an unusual looking 18th-century Polish wooden building, and posed an intriguing invite: “Who wants to build this synagogue?”
**Read More from the Jewish Exponent**

4.15.15  The piece de resistance of  Warsaw’s Museum of the History of Polish Jews is a painstakingly-built replica of the ceiling of an 18th century wooden synagogue the Nazis destroyed in the town of Gwozdziec, now in southern Ukraine…It… — **4.15.15** The piece de resistance of Warsaw’s Museum of the History of Polish Jews is a painstakingly-built replica of the ceiling of an 18th century wooden synagogue the Nazis destroyed in the town of Gwozdziec, now in southern Ukraine…Its reconstruction is the subject of Yari Wolinsky’s *Raise the Roof*, a heart-felt documentary that captures the spirit of the project. It’s not only about the arc of Jewish history in Poland, which is both illustrious and tragic, but about the intricacies of true craftmanship.
**Read More of Sheldon's Review**

March/April 2015  “This film is about a remarkable dream and a journey of re-discovery. It is a story of larger-than-life characters—one that starts with tragedy and ends in triumph,” said director Yari Wolinsky, of Trillium Studios. “It h… — **March/April 2015** “This film is about a remarkable dream and a journey of re-discovery. It is a story of larger-than-life characters—one that starts with tragedy and ends in triumph,” said director Yari Wolinsky, of Trillium Studios. “It highlights the cautious optimism of a new generation and a growing dialogue between Jews and Poles about the past and the future, providing a unique and positive way to connect with Jewish history.”
**Read More from the Jewish Georgian**

3.25.15  Raise the Roof, is a documentary about the efforts of a Massachusetts couple to reconstruct the roof of an 18th-century wooden synagogue in Poland that was the inspiration for one of the most iconic synagogue designs in the United… — **3.25.15** *Raise the Roof*, is a documentary about the efforts of a Massachusetts couple to reconstruct the roof of an 18th-century wooden synagogue in Poland that was the inspiration for one of the most iconic synagogue designs in the United States. “Frank Lloyd Wright was inspired by the pyramid structure” of the Gwozdziec Synagogue when he was designing Beth Sholom Congregation in Elkins Park, Antsis explains. Those with even just a passing familiarity with the Old York Road landmark will be able to recognize the similarities between the two structures.
**Read More from the Jewish Exponent**

2.13.15  In an award-winning career as a National Geographic photographer, Cary Wolinsky traveled the world. His wife Barbara, a designer, and their son Yari, even from a young age, often tagged along and were pressed into service.But half… — **2.13.15** In an award-winning career as a National Geographic photographer, Cary Wolinsky traveled the world. His wife Barbara, a designer, and their son Yari, even from a young age, often tagged along and were pressed into service.
But half a dozen years ago, it was an ambitious project of their neighbors that proved an irresistible draw for the latest family collaboration…
**Read More from the Huffington Post**

Reconstructing the walls of the Gwozdziec in Sanok, Poland.

1.31.15 The best vengeance against evildoers is to restore some of the beauty that they thought they had destroyed forever…The Norwell-based father-son filmmakers Cary and Yari Wolinsky of Trillium Studios recorded this process in their documentary Raise the Roof…

Read More from the Boston Globe

1.30.15 The Browns' unlikely odyssey to bring back to life on of the most significant synagogues is told in "Raise the Roof," a documentary by the award-winning father-son filmmaking team of Cary and Yari Wolinsky…

Read More from the Atlanta Jewish Times

1.27.15 Raise the Roof documents the multiyear process of re-creating by hand — from very old, black-and-white photographs — the vibrantly painted and complexly built roof and ceiling of an 18th-century wooden Polish synagogue.… The uplifting documentary is an artistic, nondenominational embrace across the centuries.

Read More from the ArtsAtl

*The photo that inspired Rick and Laura to rebuild a lost synagogue.*

Couple with Georgia ties raises a roof in Poland

1.22.15 Rick and Laura Brown are neither Polish nor Jewish. Their religion is making things…

Read More from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Professor Bernstein's Must-See Films

12.17.14 In its 15th year, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival again offers a copious array of extraordinary films that provide fresh perspectives on the place of Jews and Jewish history within our complex world. These cinematic jewels… arrive here from numerous cultures and countries, having been selected by our diligent evaluation committee.

Professor Bernstein chose Raise the Roof.

Gwozdziec ceiling and Bimah in The Jewish Town gallery of the museum. Photo by Magda Starowieyska — *Gwozdziec ceiling and Bimah in The Jewish Town gallery of the museum. Photo by Magda Starowieyska*

10.22.14 When the new POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews opens in late October, the ties between Warsaw and Boston will deepen even further…

Raise the Roof will have its world premiere during the museum’s opening ceremonies—October 29th, 2014

Read More from the Jewish Journal, Massachusetts