THE SEGAL CENTRE FOR PERFORMING ARTS
in partnership with the City of Montreal

IS PROUD TO PRESENT

THE MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL YIDDISH THEATRE FESTIVAL

CinemaSpace at the Segal Centre presents a colourful series of Yiddish films. This series will include a new feature film in Yiddish, recently restored classics, filmed plays and contemporary documentaries on Yiddish theatre. An array of guest speakers, including film directors, will provide stimulating insights.

MOVING MOUNTAINS, Canada, 1992, 28 mins., Directed by Ina Fichman
This is a heart-warming documentary about Dora Wasserman and her troupe of Yiddish Theatre performers on tour in the former Soviet Union, soon after Glasnost. Director Ina Fichman will be on hand to discuss the film. In English.
Thursday June 18, 12:30 PM

UNZERE KINDER (Our Children) Poland, 1948, 68 mins., Directed by Natan Gross and Shaul Goskind. Featuring the comedy duo, Shimen Dzigan and Yisroel Schumacher. Recently returned to Poland from the Soviet Union, they explore the impact of the Holocaust on survivors, particularly the children of an orphanage near Lodz. Performing for the children and letting them tell their own version of their survival in the ghettos, while teaching adults about the healing powers of music, dance and storytelling. One of the only post-war movies made in Yiddish. Suppressed by the postwar Communist government as too 'pro-Zionist', and then lost for over 30 years. In Yiddish with English subtitles.
Thursday June 18, 4:30 PM

DER LUFTMENSCH (The Dreamer) France, 2006, 52 mins., Directed by Mariette Feltin
Rafael Goldwaser, the founder of Strasbourg's Der LuftTeater invites us to reflect on the transmission of Yiddish culture in France, other parts of Europe and Canada. Goldwaser and the film's director, Mariette Feltin, will be on hand to discuss this fascinating documentary. In French and Yiddish with English subtitles.
Friday, June 19, 4:30 PM

JUST DORA: A ONE WOMAN SHOW, Canada, Approx 90 mins.,
Few theatre directors had a personal following equal to that of Dora Wasserman. This video is a film of her successful one woman show directed by her daughter Bryna Wasserman. The riveting performance is made up of monologues and stories by her favourite authors including: Isaac Bashevis Singer, Sholem Aleichem, I.L. Peretz and others. In Yiddish.
Sunday, June 21, 11 AM

JEWISH LUCK (Yiddishe Glickn) (USSR, 1925, 100 mins., Directed by Alexander Granovsky
Starring Shloyme Mikhoels, the famous director and actor of the Yiddish State Theatre in Moscow, this film tells the story of Menakhem Mendel, a Sholem Aleichem character with lots of get-rich-quick schemes. Among the first Soviet Yiddish films to be released in the US during the 1920s. Lovingly restored by The National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis University. Silent film with live piano accompaniment.
Sunday June 21, 4:30 PM

BEIT AVI (Homeland) Israel, 2008, 40 mins., Written & Directed by Dani Rosenberg
A Yiddish film produced by young Israelis in 2008! A young survivor arrives in Israel in 1948 only speaking Yiddish and is soon assigned to a military outpost in the desert. His commander wants to turn him into a real Sabra. In Yiddish and Hebrew with English subtitles.
Sunday June 21, 6 PM

DIE TSVEI KUNE-LEML (The Two Simpletons), France, 2007, 120 mins., Directed and Adapted by Charlotte Messer;
Filmed recording of a lively comedic Yiddish play by the Troïm-Teater, a new Yiddish theatre in Paris, France. Based on a play by Avrom Goldfaden. Initially written as an operetta, this play entered the "classical" repertoire of Yiddish theatre. A rich Hassid, Reb Pinhas, wants to marry his pretty daughter Caroline to a young man from a Hassidic family. The candidate has however a few flaws: he is one-eyed, lame and he stammers. The humour of the play is stressed by the unique taste of the Yiddish language and its savoury expressions. Alexandre and Charlotte Messer will be on hand to discuss their production.
Monday, June 22nd, 4:30 PM

AMERIKANER SHADKHN (American Matchmaker) USA, 1940, 87 mins. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer Leo Fuchs, known on Second Avenue as "the Yiddish Fred Astaire," plays an elegant and eligible bachelor who can never seem to close the marriage deal. Edgar G. Ulmer's last Yiddish movie was also his most modern, an art deco romantic comedy about male ambivalence and Jewish assimilation. With its urbane, neurotic hero, American Matchmaker looks ahead to the films of Woody Allen. In Yiddish with English subtitles. Martin Malina, screenwriter, film critic and programmer of the Montreal World Film Festival will be on hand to discuss the film.
Monday June 22, 11:30 AM
Tuesday, June 23, 7 PM

GOLDFADEN'S LEGACY, USA/Romania, 2004, 58 mins., Directed by Radu Gabrea
This film is about Avram Goldfaden, pioneer of Yiddish theatre and the musical. It traces the amazing influence of Yiddish theatre on popular American culture and includes appearances by many stars. Alyssa Quint, Yiddish lecturer at Columbia University will be on hand to discuss this film. In English and Romanian with English subtitles.
Wednesday, June 24, 4:30 PM

A GILGUL FUN A NIGN (Metamorphosis of A Melody), FRANCE 2009, 60 mins, Directed by Mariette Feltin
Filming of a unique one-man play by Rafaël Goldwaser, based on a story by I.L. Peretz. Featuring projections of images on taleism, of shtetl wanderings and a fresh perspective on music and the soul. Rafaël Goldwaser and Mariette Feltin will be present for a Q&A after the film. In Yiddish with English subtitles. Free of charge but reservations are necessary with the box office.
THURSDAY JUNE 25, 11:00 AM

THE GOLDEN AGE OF SECOND AVENUE, USA, 1968, 70 mins. An entertaining and loving chronicle of Yiddish theatre in America, from its beginnings at the turn of the century to its Golden Age on Second Avenue! This documentary includes excerpts from classic Yiddish films plus rare stills and musical vignettes from American Yiddish theatre as well as scenes from New York's Lower East Side. In English and Yiddish with English subtitles.
Thursday, June 25, 4:30 PM