Classics professor and film director to deliver Syracuse University’s annual B. G. Rudolph Lecture

Thursday, March 27, 2003, By News Staff

Classics professor and film director to deliver Syracuse University’s annual B. G. Rudolph LectureMarch 27, 2003Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Herbert Golder, a film director and professor of classics at Boston University, will deliver Syracuse University’s annual B.G. Rudolph Lecture in Judaic Studies on March 30. The lecture will be held at 2 p.m. at Drumlins Country Club, 800 Nottingham Rd.

In conjunction with the lecture, a screening of the movie “Invincible” (PG-13), directed by legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog and assistant directed by Golder-will take place at 7 p.m. that evening at Westcott Cinema, 524 Westcott St. Both events are free and open to the public.

Golder holds a doctorate in classical languages and literatures from Yale University. He has since taught at a number of universities (including Syracuse University) and has worked on numerous films as a co-writer, producer and actor. He was the assistant director to Werner Herzog on his last five films, including the Emmy-nominated “Little Dieter Needs to Fly.” His most recent film with Herzog is “Invincible,” which was released last year by Fine Line Features, and in which Golder makes his acting debut. He is currently writing a screenplay, “Enemy of God,” which is scheduled to go into production this summer.

“Invincible” tells the true story of Zishe Breitbart, a Jewish blacksmith from eastern Poland who travels to Berlin in the 1930s to join a nightclub cabaret. He is billed as the world’s strongest man-a claim that is not well received by the rising Nazi party. The film includes effective portrayals of a Polish shtetl. Using his role as a modern day Samson to defend his own people, Breitbart embarks on an inevitable path to tragedy.

The B.G. Rudolph Lecture Series was established in 1962 by the late Bernard G. Rudolph, a Syracuse businessman and philanthropist whose activities encompassed both civic and religious life of the community.

The son of a cantor, Rudolph was a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania thoroughly committed to Jewish life and values. Since 1963, his endowment has brought several distinguished scholars to lecture on campus, including Robert Alter, Aharon Appelfeld, Ken Frieden, Dan Laor, Dan Miron, Mark Slobin and Ruth Wisse.

Rudolph’s son, Jay Rudolph, has been active over the past two decades in support of the Judaic Studies Program and the B. G. Rudolph Lectures in Judaic Studies in The College of Arts and Sciences. Jay Rudolph was also instrumental in raising the funds needed to create the B. G. Rudolph Chair in Judaic Studies, which has been held by Professor Ken Frieden since 1993.