Heart of Stone

NJ Monthly Sept Issue Review

beth — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 21:04:56 +0000

p 20- “Shaking Up Weequahic”
Kruvant hopes “Heart of Stone will inspire high school alumni in other cities to give back- not just talk about the good old days”

LA TIMES REVIEW by kevin thomas

beth — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:05:13 +0000

A principal’s class act in New Jersey

The title of Beth Toni Kruvant’s probing documentary “Heart of Stone” refers to Ronald Stone, the remarkable principal of Newark’s Weequahic High School, whose heart is anything but. A rugged 6-foot-3-inch athlete, Stone in 2001 arrived at a school that had once been rated as among the best in the nation but had become one of the worst schools in the 12th most dangerous U.S. city.

“Heart of Stone” is a portrait of a dedicated man — smart, articulate, strong and tough-minded yet warm and compassionate, willing and able to reach out and communicate with his students on an individual basis. It is also the story of the city. Between 1930 and 1960, the Weequahic neighborhood was an idyllic, secure, solidly middle-class Jewish neighborhood, but shifting demographics and brewing racial tensions, which exploded in a landmark 1967 riot, drove Newark’s whites to the suburbs, and Weequahic became a black neighborhood increasingly terrorized by gang warfare. The film also calls attention to the school’s formidable alumni association co-founded by Hal Braff, class of 1952 — and the father of the film’s executive producer, actor Zach Braff.

The group, composed of both older Jews and younger blacks, has been key in supporting Stone’s effort to transform Weequahic, raising impressive sums for college scholarships, supporting the football team and providing skiing outings for students — even a trip to Paris. Deftly structured, incisive and revealing, uplifting without ever glossing over grim realities, “Heart of Stone” offers a hard-won sense of hope and possibilities.

– Kevin Thomas “Heart of Stone.” MPAA rating: Unrated. Running time: 1 hour, 24 minutes. At the Town Center 5 in Encino through Thursday.

Laemmle Encino Screening

beth — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:03:06 +0000

Beth-
My wife and I were lucky enough to see “Heart of Stone” (and meet
you) last night at the theater in Encino. Both of us were knocked
out by your film and by this story. I’m forwarding the information
about it to the head rabbi at our temple, Wilshire Boulevard Temple,
which is the oldest (and I think largest) congregation in Los
Angeles, as it seems to me that they should host a screening of it.
For both my wife and myself, it reninforced what we had always
understood to be the most important part of being a Jew-reaching out
to help others. I think that’s a message that is getting lost over
time and I’m not at all sure that we’re passing it along to our
children the way it was passed along to us. I’ve also posted it on
my Facebook page (not so sure that has much affect). It is a very
important film; thank you for making this.
Jamie Foreman

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

beth — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:00:59 +0000

From Peter Stein on San Francisco Jewish Film Festival # Beth, it was fantastic having you here in the Bay Area! The screenings were terrific, the feedback positive on all .

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

beth — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 03:07:41 +0000

Thank you Peter Stein for a fabulous film festival. San Francisco Jewish Film Festival lived up to its reputation as being 100% professional with a warm welcoming spirit. It was truly an honor to be a part of the festival and a delight to meet you!
The Berkeley Screening was STUPENDOUS!!! Rabbi Michael Lerner from Tikkun Mag., Hal Braff, co-founder of WHS Alumni Assoc., Local Hero Alvin Attles and Actor, Director Zach Braff all came together to support Heart of Stone. The panel discussion was provocative, a true Berkeley experience.
The San Francisco JCC screening was lucky to have Steve & Laurie Dinitz, whose generous support of the alumni assoc. made the film possible! and thank you to Susan Levine for making me an honorary alumna of WHS, I feel “older”, or should I say more connected to my roots!
on to LA(next week) or bust!
Beth

HEART OF STONE IN SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

beth — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:29:56 +0000

Heart of Stone: At Weequahic High School in Newark, N.J., the principal wears a bulletproof vest, gang members roam the grounds and students go through metal detectors and are watched on Big Brother-like cameras. Once, more future Ph.D.s graduated from mostly Jewish Weequahic than any other high school in the nation. Graduates include Philip Roth, Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe played the cop in
“American Gangster”), Michael Lerner (Tikkun) and former Warriors coach Al Attles. But the school is now in an area of urban decay, and Principal Ron Stone has put together a program to help the inner-city youths make something of themselves. “Heart of Stone” is a penetrating documentary about persistence restoring the school to its former glory. Director Beth Toni Kruvant hits incredible highs and a shocking low as she
explores the cultures of past and present student bodies that come together in a common cause. 6:30 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Roda Theatre, Berkeley, with Kruvant in person.

HEART OF STONE ON ROTTEN TOMATOES

beth — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:26:21 +0000

This compelling, insightful and heartfelt documentary focuses on the effort of Ronald G. Stone, the principal of Weequahic High School (WHS) in Newark, New Jersey, to bring the school back to the honorable and peaceful reputation the school had once earned during its inception in the 1930’s. When Stone became the school’s principal back in 2001, WHS had serious problems with gang violence. Many have died from gang violence throughout Newark, the 12th most dangerous city in America. So, Stone had a very challenging task ahead of him once he took over as the new principal. Director Beth Toni Kruvant does an outstanding job of showing how Stone was concurrently wise and tough in his methods of diminishing gang violence at WHS. She wisely doesn’t resort to preachiness or excessive voice-over narration. She includes plenty of footage of Stone interacting with the students and blends it together with relevant, insightful information about the history of WHS. Instead of merely condemning the members of the gangs and expressing hatred toward them in any kind of way, Stone had them gather in a room together to express their anger and frustrations through words rather than through violence. Any sensible and morally responsible person should know that, as the saying goes, the pen (or one’s tongue, for that matter) has more long-lasting power and productivity than the sword. Stone essentially treated the gang members with respect as human beings while being firm and honest with them about the realities of what’s in store for their future if they continue down the road of gang violence. It’s equally inspiring and moving to observe how Stone instilled some much-needed hope in their lives along with a passionate drive to succeed in life and to pursue higher education as a means to escape their dangerous life in the hood. In one particularly insightful moment, he gets to the root of the issue by explaining to a gang member that he understands his fear of adjusting to a new social environment if he were to escape the hood by attending college rather than stay in a lifestyle that he’s accustomed to and, therefore, comfortable with. Perhaps he’s numb and/or oblivious to the life-threatening dangers of staying in the hood, but Stone, much like a father figure, mentor and therapist, helps him and others to open their eyes to the harsh realities around them and to persuade them to choose the right path in life that’s best for them and for society as a whole. At a running time of 1 hours and 24 minutes, Heart of Stone, winner of the Audience Award at the Slamdance Film Festival, manages to be a captivating, poignant and inspirational documentary that finds just the right balance between entertaining the audience and provoking them intellectually. Number of times I checked my watch: 0

New York Times reviews Heart of Stone

beth — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:24:55 +0000

A PRINCIPAL’S PRINCIPLES

Two things keep “Heart of Stone” from being like every other documentary about a dedicated principal who tries to turn a failed urban high school around. One is the alumni angle. The other is the sobering way the film ends. The institution is the gang-infested Weequahic High School in Newark, and the principal is Ronald G. Stone. At first it seems as if the filmmaker, Beth Toni Kruvant, were merely capturing the same dichotomy — the principal’s I-gotta-save-these-kids versus the gang members’ defiant posturing — that all its predecessors revel in. But Ms. Kruvant slowly puts across what is different about Mr. Stone: the realization that he can work with gang leaders rather than fight the futile battle of trying to squash them. The film spends considerable time focusing on a heartening effort by alumni — mostly white and Jewish — from the school’s pre-Newark-riots glory days to improve things at Weequahic, which is now largely black. And then there’s that ending. — Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times

IFC SCREENING

beth — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:21:48 +0000

Dear Beth,
I was the woman near the front row who tried to thank you at the screening yesterday at the IFC…
Your film is beautiful and vital. I’ve been an English teacher for 30 years in many different settings, including in special programs at various colleges in the Boston area that were geared toward students coming from high schools where they hadn’t been sufficiently academically prepared and needed extra support, often one-on-one…
More than anything, though, I’d like them to see the transformative powers of one loving man and of education. We all feel helpless often in the face of overwhelming obstacles, but Ron Stone truly exemplified as you showed so powerfully, that one persistent person with a clear mission along with the backing of the Alumni Association can very effectively change children’s lives for the better…
thank you so much for the work that you do. I was deeply moved…
Vicky Frankel

next showing in NYC

beth — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:51:03 +0000

HEART OF STONE AT IFC CENTER JULY 17 - 23

TIMES:1:50PM AND 8:00PM