The Museum of
FAMILY HISTORY

   HOME

  SITE MAP ABOUT THE MUSEUM FEEDBACK  OPPORTUNITIES LINKS
<<BACK

The Screening Room
YIDDISH THEATER:
A Love Story
A Film by Dan Katzir

 

Jf you have difficulties viewing this clip (you might need Windows XP or Vista),
you can see the clip at
http://www.myspace.com/yiddishtheateralovestory .
 .

YIDDISH THEATER IS HIP: SEE THE NEW FILM  IN LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK CITY AND TEL AVIV

At first glance, Dan Katzir seems woefully miscast as a champion of Yiddish Theater in the United States  Yet his new and exciting film: Yiddish Theater: A Love Story, produced by Ms. Ravit Markus, is set to be theatrically released in Tel Aviv, NYC and Los Angeles in November.
For exact dates go to the film’s website: www.yiddishtheater.net or
www.fireflyers.com/yiddishtheater/html/screenings.php.

Dan's new film is very different from his previous film “Out for Love… Be Back Shortly”, one of the most famous Israeli films about love and youth in a time of war and hatred. It won critical acclaim, thirteen international awards and a nomination for an Israeli academy award. Checking on the imdb.com, the leading website for films, one finds among the credits also Sasha Baron Cohen, (Borat) who did the English narration for the film. Dan was born into a family of great political and social importance in Israel. His great uncle, Efraim Katzir, was the fourth president. He is also related to Israel's second Prime Minister, Moshe Sharet. Dan served in the Israeli army in the prestigious paratroopers (Red beret) unit and finished his army service in the rank of Lieutenant.

IS IT WEIRD THAT A FILMMAKER WHO’S NAME IS CONNECTED WITH LOVE IS DOING A FILM ABOUT A 90 YEAR OLD YIDDISH DIVA?

My first film was a love story between two young people in Israel. My second film is a love story to a ninety year old diva - and her love story with her culture. I still have the love element, only now the love is a little more complex.

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO MAKE THIS FILM?

I was vacationing in New York in December 2000 when I stumbled across Zypora Spaisman. If she would have been sixty years younger, I probably would have fallen madly in love with her. Zypora in her nineties had an amazing energy - forcing me to see her show in Yiddish. For me it was a first, since Yiddish represented for me something I had always been ashamed of, because for me Yiddish represented an old world that I never liked or cared about. However, by the end of the show, I had fallen in love with Yiddish, Yiddish Theater, and the actors who were struggling to keep their show from closing. They asked if I could help in some way, and I suggested documenting their show. I lived for one week with this fascinating group of actors in a show that kept getting more and more positive reviews by the major press, yet got less and less audience. I was shocked that no one had come to see the show, even when they were voted one of the top ten off-Broadway shows for 2000. Thus it became a journey not only into our grandparents' culture and heritage - but also into the real meaning of art. As young artists it was an intense journey into every artist's nightmare in which there are no more people who speak the language of their art. In that week I learned the meaning not only of perseverance, but also of the love of art for art's sake, even when there may be no audience for it.



 


Copyright © 2007 Museum of Family History. All rights reserved. Image Use Policy