• J.R. Ortega •
• Originally published March 3, 2010 at midnight, updated March 4, 2010 at 11:30 p.m.

• ABOUT DR. BRANFMAN Gary Branfman was born in New York City. He studied radio, television and film at the City University of New York's Queens College. After producing educational, marketing and training films for Audiovisual Instructional Devices and Services of Massachusetts, he made a career change to become a plastic surgeon. After completing two residencies and two fellowships, he moved to Victoria and established the Victoria Plastic Surgery Center. He then established a second business, Complexion Plus Skin Wellness.
  ABOUT DR. BRANFMAN -2010-03-04 23:21:00

Dr. Gary Branfman remembers when the Victoria Temple B'Nai Israel was desecrated in 2007.

From the swastika spray-paintings to the anti-Semitic messages on the wall, one thing remains clear in Branfman's mind - a diverse community came together.

"We all have a common denominator," said Branfman, whose book, "Surreal Eternity," will be shot as an independent film later this year in New York. "There have been conflicts between every religion that's ever walked this Earth."

Though his book was not inspired by the desecration, his book-turning-movie, does talk about the condemnation the main characters face because of race and religion and prevailing, he said.

Branfman's book follows the tale of a Jewish woman with two teenage sons and a young Arab architect and his newborn daughter he has to raise. The two widowers fall in love, but must endure the prejudices from friends, family and society.

The movie, "Two Houses," follows the plot and will be shot in October by Hardheaded Films Production, he said.

Already the Victoria plastic surgeon is celebrating.

He held a celebratory party at his home on Saturday, in which the lead character's actor, Haaz Sleiman, from "The Visitor" and "Nurse Jackie," made a special appearance.

"We spoke on the phone and e-mail," Branfman said. "But when I met him, it felt like we'd already been friends for a decade."

That night, Branfman's house was diverse.

"We had in my home, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jews, men, women, blacks and we had whites," he said. "If that's not the whole intent of this movie, I don't know what is."

The world needs to look at Victoria and see how well different religions and races can intermingle and co-exist, he said.

This is why the reaction from not only the Victoria Israeli community, but the entire community about the desecration meant so much, Branfman said.

The movie couldn't be coming out at a better time, Sleiman said.

"I thought Gary was very outrageous to write something like this," Sleiman said. "It's very timely for a film like 'Two Houses' to go on right now with what's going on in the Middle East."

That's the mission, Branfman said.

Plus, Branfman has always wanted to help produce a movie, and now he's getting his chance.

"It's the experience of almost having a dream come true," Branfman said. "This is what I want to do when I grow up. I want to make movies."

Branfman rewrote the screenplay 60 times before he was satisfied, he said

When the screenplay did well at the Beverly Hills Film Festival, Branfman knew his dreams were just a little bit closer, he said.

"It really lets me know that somebody, besides me, thinks it has potential," he said.

Anre Garrett, the managing principal and producer of the film, has spent 15 years in the entertainment industry and believes the film has all the ingredients it needs to succeed, he said.

"Part of the objective of the film is to bring a social consciousness to the film," he said. "We really feel this is one of those films that will do that," he said.

Branfman hopes children can look to him as an example when they think of following their dreams, he said.

"All you need is an imagination and a computer," he said. "Don't think outside of the box. Just throw away the box."

Advocate reporter JJ Velasquez contributed to this article.

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