Film Fest

Vicki Bernie

Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer

Just one finger on his left hand puts his world in motion. Diagnosed as a child with a rare form of muscular dystrophy — Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type II — Ami Ankilewitz was given six years to live. At age 34, weighing only 39 pounds, Ami is limited to movement in only one finger. Despite his disability, Ami is now a brilliant 3-D computer animator in Israel.

“One must never give up hope for love and for life…I have the soul of a Harley Davidson…Even after I die, I shall be alive,” he says in the HBO/Cinemax documentary film, 39 Pounds of Love, written, directed and produced by Dani Menkin.

The movie will be shown as part of the Dayton Jewish International Film Fest on Sunday, April 9 at 2 p.m. at the Neon Movies. Dani will visit Dayton to lead a discussion before and after the film.

In 39 Pounds, Dani chronicles the time period when Ami puts his unrequited love for his caregiver, Christina, in the past and embarks upon a journey across the United States with the film crew and his best friend.

The journey, resolving major incidents from his past and taking a ride on a Harley Davidson, becomes the crew’s dream as well.

The logistics of the trip — outfitting a van for Ami’s special needs, the possibility of serious risks to his condition and financial difficulties — brought occasional setbacks, but never deterred this group.

Leading them through the film is an animated bluebird — Ami’s own creation — who symbolically provides him with the freedom to soar.

“I am a filmmaker and I’m always looking for a good story,” Dani says. When he first saw Ami in 2001, Dani was on a blind date at a bar in Israel.

“I was distracted by something that looked like a plastic doll, but when I looked again, I was shocked to realize that it was a real person in a wheelchair. He was drinking beer through a straw and surrounded by friends and a beautiful girl. I was no longer interested in the date and I went over to meet him. Ami was an incredible story.”

Dani says that Ami touches and inspires everyone he meets. He speaks three languages, has a Harley Davidson tattoo and is pretty much an ordinary guy except that he communicates with a Madonna-style microphone and weighs only 39 pounds.

Ami is not at all bitter, Dani says; he is fun and uplifting to be around.

“(The) documentary brings you to many crazy places,” says Dani, who describes the challenges that came with the filming as well as the journey itself; Ami’s physical condition and finances among the greatest. “I sold my car and used all of my savings,” Dani says.

Menkin, a writer, producer and director in Israel, is a reporter for the Israeli Sports Channel. He created a highly-acclaimed television series for the National Geographic Channel as well as other films including Wisdom Of The Pretzel, which won first place at the Israeli Film Festival in Miami and was nominated for 10 Israeli Oscars.

The film 30 Pounds of Love has garnered awards at festivals across the United States; it is the recipient of the 2005 Israeli Ophir Award — the Israeli Academy of Television and Film — for Best Documentary Film.

“I think that it is successful because it touches people so much and because they are surprised that it doesn’t bring them down,” Dani says. “It is also such an exceptional story that includes so much love — for family, women, animation, life and, of course, Harley Davidsons.”

Dani is trying to raise money to bring Ami to Dayton for the premiere. “Ami collects all of the articles written about the movie and loves to hear from the people he has inspired,” Dani says. He encourages people to contact Ami at the Web site, www.39poundsoflove.com .

© 2006 The Dayton Jewish Observer