Painstakingly restored from prints from five different countries, tonight’s screening features a new score composed and (performed live) by pianist Donald Sosin and Klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals.

A rabbi’s son leaves his insular shtetl for a stage career in 1860s Vienna, but as his star ascends, he feels the pull of his faith and homeland. Pre-dating The Jazz Singer by four years, this remarkable story is a testament to the creativity of Jewish filmmakers in 1920s Germany. More comedy than tragedy, the movie paints a complex portrait of the tension between tradition and modernity and was made at the last moment when the future of German and Austrian Jewry still looked hopeful. 

TICKETS & INFO

Hopkins Center
Accessibility Services