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 on March 15.
Last week’s shooting of a short film in Columbus — including at the landmark Zaharakos ice cream parlor — was the latest reminder of just how much we have in our community that is unique and makes our city and region a destination.
And not just a destination for architecture fans and tourists, but also for creative artists. For instance, the cast and crew of the acclaimed Hollywood feature film “Columbus” recently returned here for a heartwarming homecoming of sorts that marked the fifth anniversary of the movie’s release.
Let this be our calling card to Hollywood location scouts: We are open for business, and our Hoosier Hospitality is complimentary.
Columbus is once again going to be in pictures, as a crew of about 80 were in town last week filming several scenes of “The Ice Cream Man.” Scenes were shot at Zaharakos and other Columbus locations such as Upland Brewing and Blairex Laboratories.
The upcoming Holocaust drama written and directed by Robert Moniot tells the story of Jewish ice cream parlor owner Ernst Cahn, who becomes a target of Nazis after the invasion of the Netherlands in World War II.
As The Republic’s Brian Blair wrote, Cahn’s arrest led to the February Strike of 1941 — the first anti-Nazi protest, in which 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.
Blair was watching shooting on the production at Zaharakos a week ago as Moniot called “and cut” at the end of a scene featuring lead actor Noah Emmerich and young actor Imogen Hall.
As Blair noted, the location of Zaharakos, an almost impossibly perfect setting for this historical film, would not have been possible without the vision and generosity of the late Columbus businessman and philanthropist Tony Moravec.
It’s quite a story. Not only did Moravec preserve and restore Zaharakos as the ice cream palace and landmark museum that it is, he also got behind “The Ice Cream Man” in a big way.
As Blair wrote, Moniot had been scouting locations everywhere looking for an ice cream parlor that would fit the bill. When Zarahakos popped up in a Google search, Moniot contacted Moravec, who not only said he’d love to see the film shot here, but he wrote a check for $50,000 to support the project.
Moniot told Blair that he and Moravec “became fast friends,” and soon spent a week together here. “… Tony is absolutely the guardian angel in all of this,” Moniot said.
Moravec died Nov. 9, hours after Moniot had last spoken to him by phone.
So the production of what promises to be a poignant story is itself bittersweet, and one whose legend will only grow.
“I feel like Ernst and Tony were somewhat kindred spirits,” Patrice Jennings-Rado, executive producer of “The Ice Cream Man,” told Blair.
Hollywood would be hard-pressed to script a more compelling and inspirational story, nor find a more welcoming place to film it.
