I am going to Orlando for a film festival. I am selected to be a part of it. I am Jewish

[AZLD4Candidate]

Should I be nervous? I wear my Star of David proudly around my neck.

My entire name is Jewish so I cannot hide it even if I wanted to hide it.

Should I be nervous after what just happened in Orlando with "the Jews will get the rope" and "the Jews won't replace us?"

[Blue Owl]

1. You couldn't pay me to go to FL as long as DeSatan is governing

And I wouldn’t contribute one red cent to that state until he gets the boot….

[Deuxcents]

2. I hope this event would be postponed

Long enough to find another, more welcoming location. One should never hide who they are but be aware and proactive, if you can. Best wishes

[Beastly Boy]

3. As far as neo-nazis are concerned, they are a traveling circus.

Their numbers are relatively small, but they may be in Orlando today and in Budapest tomorrow.

You are taking your chances no matter where you go. Being Jewish, you are probably familiar with this perspective: nowhere is totally safe, but you have to do what you have to do. As always, it is probably safer if you stick together with other Jews, especially locals.

[70sEraVet]

6. This is an America that I just don't recognize anymore.

I know who DOES recognize what America is becoming -- those who lived through European countries that were under Nazi control.

[Hortensis]

30. And I wish they were here to answer this

nonsense that belittles what happened there. It wasn't IMAGINARY and the 6 million deserve better than to be used for facile, factional slurs.

When I was first married 50 years ago and we moved near my Jewish MIL in West Hollywood, I often saw the numbers the Nazis tattooed on her friends. People who survived were common in her circles and around L.A.'s Borscht Belt, but of course they left behind families, friends colleagues who were all among the 6 million murdered long before. My husband's entire European family were tormented and murdered in the Holocaust. It was unspeakable hell.

[Hekate]

4. More importantly: where are you now? How did you get out of China, or are you still there?

Who invited you to Orlando and how are you getting there?

Somewhere along the line someone has lost the plot. I think the Florida Nazis are the least of your worries.

[AZLD4Candidate]

12. I am still in China. Waiting for my wife's green card interview date to be set up

I was selected to be part of the Orlando Film Festival with two screenplays.

I am flying from Qingdao to Orlando.

[Hekate]

15. How very interesting. Can you share the titles of the screenplays with us?

[AZLD4Candidate]

16. Of course:

Clyde and Bear - a children's movie about a boy and his dog.
Because I Could - inspired by Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy with homage to "Compulsion" with Orson Welles.

[Hekate]

17. You lead an interesting and creative life. Cheers

[dpibel]

20. This sort of question

has occurred to me as well...

[leftstreet]

5. Is your wife going with you? n/t

[Hekate]

7. I think you and I are on the same page

This is a major plot-twist

[leftstreet]

9. ...

Season 2

[yardwork]

29. This is a long-time subplot.

There was an earlier GoFundMe to attend a screenwriters conference in LA.

[AZLD4Candidate]

13. No. I am going alone, then coming back to her in China.

We will leave China permanently when they give her the IR1 immigrant visa that will lead to the green card.

[Joinfortmill]

8. My children's father is Jewish. Name is a prayer.

Be cautious. Be aware. Try not to be alone. That said, these types are cowards and run in packs, so they're easy to spot. God bless.

[Marcus IM]

10. Few cities are as hellish as Orlando.

And then there's the sweltering heat w/zero breeze.

Thanks to exploitive capitalism and a population that cares little, almost none of the people who work there can afford to live there.

[Arazi]

11. Florida's on my no-go list. Can you lobby them to change the location?

[AZLD4Candidate]

14. It's the Orlando Film Festival. I doubt it can be moved from Orlando.

[DFW]

18. I have to be there on occasion, too

Most recently, in the beginning of the year. Many of my colleagues (the entire gathering was in four figures with respect to attendance) are Jewish. No one reported the slightest incident of any kind. I would suspect that in artistic circles, as with my crowd, no one cares if your name is Rodriguez, Takeuchi, Goldberg, Koyubanga, Hussein, Olszewski, Chavchavadze or Jones. What matters is what you’re there for, not where you were born and raised, or by whom.


I have no idea where the film festival is held, and have no knowledge of Orlando at all outside of the Convention Center area and the airport. It’s a bubble, I suspect, so, if there are demons and monsters on the outside, I wouldn’t know. Maybe there’s someone on here with broader knowledge of the area than mine.

[meadowlander]

19. Florida has the third largest Jewish community in the US.

I think you'll be fine.

Just because a city has loud attention-whoring idiots packing up and getting a lot of press attention doesn't mean they represent anywhere near the majority view. It only took 50 Nazis in a city of 300,000 in this instance to make international headlines and some of them probably travelled there for the rally.

Let's put it this way - Ethan Nordean, the Proud Boy who was sentenced last week, was based in Seattle and had a group of a few dozen croneys he'd throw rallies with. Does that mean Seattle as a whole isn't a safe city to visit for anyone who isn't a MAGA extremist? Of course not.

And also fuck those people. They don't get to decide what people do with their lives and whether or not they can participate in public spaces or not. You have the law and the right and the majority of people on your side.

[Behind the Aegis]

21. Be aware of your surroundings.

Have fun, but always be aware of what is happening and always have an escape plan.

[AZLD4Candidate]

22. Like China. . .you don't know who is a CCP shill who will try to get a foreigner beaten up.

[betsuni]

23. Better stay in China then, where they don't have to see your necklace or know your name

to be mean to you!

[we can do it]

24. That's mean. And the same crap happens randomly here.

[Baitball Blogger]

25. Sanford is the hot spot.

If you're in downtown Orlando, you should be alright.

Though I was shocked to hear that the Nazi parade we heard about was in Altamonte Springs.

[Tommy Carcetti]

26. You'll be fine.

Trust me.

Orlando is a big city with a sizable Jewish population who live normal lives with little interference. You won’t be assaulted walking down the street with a Star of David pendant.

It isn’t some tiny insular hick town or 1936 Berlin, if that’s what you’re asking.

Stop giving into the fear mongers or the fringe freaks. That’s what they want.

On edit, there are nearly 70,000 Jewish people living in the Orlando area:

https://www.brandeis.edu/cmjs/community-studies/orlando-report.html#:~:text=The%20Central%20Florida%20Jewish%20community,9%2C700%20Jewish%20children

[Conjuay]

27. No matter what the 'doom and gloom's crowd is saying

MOST of us in Florida are actually sane.
The loudmouths get all the attention, but they are a small percent of the population.
When and where are you films being shown?
The Enzian Theater in Maitland?
Or is it part of the fringe festival?
My son will most likely be there, he loves that sort of thing.

[tavernier]

31. Agree

1000 %

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

28. If you're going, go big and go bling

edited for mis-use of your you're yore

[AZLD4Candidate]

33. I wear that everyday

[XanaDUer2]

32. If you win

Can they award it in abcentia (sp?).

Florida sucks