Reminiscence on 
First World Assembly on Aging, 1982

By Elise Kapell
March 20, 2002

The First World Assembly on Aging took place in Vienna at the Hapsburg Palace in 1982.  It was a privilege to attend this memorable event. Permission was obtained for the International Council of Jewish Women (ICJW) and the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) together with the United States Department of Health and Human Services to show our film, Close Harmony. I introduced this joyous and inspiring documentary at the First World Assembly on Aging and at the Forum preceding it. Subsequently, the film won an Oscar and an Emmy for Best Short Documentary.

Close Harmony is about the Brooklyn Senior Citizens Chorus and a group of young students of the Friends School, who join together for an "inter generational" concert. It was the creative idea of Arlene Symons who directed the combined chorus. The senior citizens and children become "pen pals" before their joint rehearsal and wonderful concert. We are reminded by this film that the elderly represent a vast resource of skills and experience and no society can afford to leave this resource untapped.

The logo for the First World Assembly on Aging was the banyan tree, and one was symbolically planted in Vienna at the time. With it's spreading branches sending off roots that generate new trunks and it's huge circumference often serving as a community meeting place, the tree represents longevity, self-reliance and continuing growth - qualities which I believe societies need to value in their aging populations.

The wonderful film, Close Harmony, will be shown again at the Second World Assembly. It is just as thought provoking  and pertinent now as it was twenty years ago. It is certainly an honor to be able to present it again in Madrid on the twentieth anniversary of it's original viewing in Vienna.  

Elise Kapell, 
UN Representative for the International Council of Jewish Women