Mike Wolanin | The Republic Director Robert Moniot, left, talks with actor Noah Emmerich during a break in between shooting scenes for “The Ice Cream Man” movie at Zaharakos in Columbus in March 2023.
The short Holocaust-themed movie “The Ice Cream Man,” partly filmed in Columbus last year and this spring, will be shown at 1 p.m. Sept. 21 at YES Cinema, 328 Jackson St. in downtown Columbus.
The 33-minute flick quickly sold out two showings at its premiere July 25 at the Heartland Film Festival at the 530-seat Tobias Theater at Newfields in Indianapolis. Operators of YES and also Carol Frische, a liaison for the historic Zaharakos ice cream parlor locally where many scenes were shot, and also an associate producer of the movie, have worked for months to ensure a booking here.
Some details such as ticket availability still are being finalized. Diane Doup of Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center that operates YES Cinema said she’s happy about the scheduling. She credited Linda Allman, YES’s events coordinator, for her work.
“We are so excited at YES Cinema to play a role in sharing this film with our community,” Doup said. “It’s not everyday that you have a film crew in town, let alone a crew spotlighting such a community treasure that we have like Zaharakos. And we think a lot of people will be interested in seeing our beautiful ice cream parlor come to life on the big screen.”
The film highlights the true story of Ernst Cahn, a Netherlands World War II-era ice cream parlor owner who was Jewish who chose resistance in spite of certain death during the Nazi invasion. His arrest led to the February Strike of 1941 — the first anti-Nazi protest.
More than 300,000 workers in Amsterdam went on strike February 25 and 26, 1941, to protest Cahn’s arrest at his shop, and the ongoing, forced labor of Jews by the Nazi regime. A film crew of 80 people — nearly four times the size of the “Columbus” film crew in 2016 — spread between Zaharakos and an empty Fourth Street storefront serving as a costume storage area, were here during the March 2023 shoot.
A crew returned in April for more scenes.
Zaharakos, the storied, 1900 restaurant was reimagined as Cahn’s Koco Ice Cream Parlor in 1941 Amsterdam during the filming sessions here.
Director Robert Moniot looked all over Europe, New York and Los Angeles in 2022 for a period place with a design and décor that could pass for an authentic 1940s business before using Google to search for “1900s ice cream parlor.”
Frische was among a group of local residents who saw the movie at the premiere.
“It is very well done,” she said. “I think what we all thought: That this film highlights a timeless issue. I am sure that there are so many other stories that can be told from that time period of things that have gone on in so many different countries.”
Besdes Zaharakos, some of the film’s prison scenes were filmed at a local attorney’s storage warehouse near downtown. Friesche mentioned that numerous other locals contributed time and other resources for the film.
