The Jewish Heritage Foundation of N.C. announces the dates of the premiere of the film "Down Home: Jewish Life in North Carolina," a documentary of personal stories and anecdotes of families of the North Carolina Jewish community.

The film is being created by the Emmy award-winning team at Video Dialog Inc. The team includes Steve Channing as executive producer, Lue Simopoulos, producer, and Warren Gentry as director of photography.

The Down Home Documentary film, the first component of the project to be completed, will debut in Raleigh Sunday, Oct. 12, at the North Carolina Museum of History; in Greensboro Sunday, Oct. 19, at the Carolina Theater; and in Charlotte Sunday, Feb. 22. Additional film debut locations throughout the state are in the planning stages.

The film is a major component of the "Down Home: Jewish Life in North Carolina" multi-media project that also includes a museum exhibit, educational DVDs and teaching curricula for the state's public schools, and a richly illustrated book to be published by UNC Press.

The $1.25 million project includes support from the State of North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the Leon Levine Foundation, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation, Wachovia Foundation, Glaxo-Smith Kline, all of the state's Jewish Federations and many individuals and families from across the state and beyond. Fundraising to complete the project is ongoing.

The Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina, established in 1996, North Carolina's sole statewide Jewish historical organization, seeks to promote understanding of the Jewish people by educating both Jews and the general public about the history, culture, and religion of the Jewish people and by encouraging appreciation of the beauty of Jewish ritual and practice.

The JHFNC collects and preserves artifacts and records the history of Jewish settlement in North Carolina, as well as conducting programs that examine and portray the Jewish experience in North Carolina.

The JHFNC also seeks to strengthen Jewish communal bonds among North Carolina's diverse Jewish and non-Jewish communities by maintaining networks that connect collections and educational resources across the state and by creating bridges between the older established communities and our many newly arriving residents.