Yiddish Theater: A Love Story (2006)

The battle to keep Yiddish Theater alive into the 21st century continues.

Director:

Dan Katzir

Writers:

Dan Katzir, Ravit Markus

Stars:

Julie Alexander, Mike Burstyn, Felix Fiebich

Cast

Credited cast:
Julie Alexander	...	Herself
Mike Burstyn	...	Himself
Felix Fiebich
Shifra Lerer	...	Herself (as Shifra Lehrer)
Roni Neuman	...	Herself
Seymour Rechzeit	...	Himself
Zypora Spaisman	...	Herself

Storyline

A powerful, funny, moving and important film that follows the legendary Yiddish diva Zypora Spaisman, who is considered by many the woman who has kept Yiddish Theater alive in the US. The film has the last filmed interview with Yiddish superstar Seymour Rechzeit, as well as rare footage of the Second Avenue deli, and it's owner. The film also has amazing footage of the Hebrew actors union, just before all the rare archival footage was discovered and moved out of the rotting basement. This is a masterpiece documentary with footage that will make anyone both laugh and cry in every scene.

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Plot Keywords:

yiddish | theater | yiddish theater | zypora | hebrew | 

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Taglines:

Director Dan Katzir's sequel to his acclaimed film "American Yiddish Theater".

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Yiddish

Release Date:

24 July 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dan Katzir Video Diary #2

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,860 (USA) (7 December 2007)

Gross:

$39,081 (USA) (9 January 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Katzir Productions, New Love Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

A unique story about Yiddish theater survival in NY.

This story is about a unique Yiddish theater in NY, it's about disappearance of traditions, it's about change of generations and fragile balance of relationships between old and new, it's about greatness of NY as a multicultural center. The story is small, but heartbreaking. It's about our roots and predecessors, whoever you are, whatever confession you are. The technical quality of the film is not that great, but at the end it's a very low budget film about a theater that struggles to survive without financial support and enough money for higher end production and P&A budget. But this film has a lot of heart. It lets its heroes speak for themselves, and it's almost impossible not to feel the pain of main characters, who are real people. At the end, this film is a part of human history and will service future generations as another reflection of who are Jews, what is New York, and a thing called time, which is unstoppable, more often cruel than not, but unable to break a human spirit.