“Jewish Luck” (1925) with a new soundtrack by Masha Khotimski
Silent movie with an introduction and discussion
Jewish Luck (Russia 1925, director: Alexander Granowski) is a silent movie that uniquely documents Jewish-Ukrainian cultural history. It was filmed at original locations and Ukrainian centers of Jewish community life, including Berdychiv, Odessa and Letychiv. The comedy tells the story of Menachem Mendel from Berdychiv. He’s a man who dreams big but leaves a string of failed business ventures in his wake. He eventually tries his hand at being a “Schadchen” (Yiddish: marriage broker) and a series of entertaining misunderstandings ensues.
Past event
Where
W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
Klaus Mangold Auditorium
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
(Opposite the Museum)
The Jewish Museum Berlin is showing Jewish Luck with a new soundtrack by Masha Khotimski. The composer was born in Kyiv in 1980 and incorporates unique vocal recordings from the 1910s into her music. The recordings were most likely made as part of an expedition by the Jewish Society for History and Ethnography, led by Jewish writer Sholem Ansky. Their aim was to collect and record liturgical songs, stories, and folk music from what were then Jewish settlements in Czarist Russia – now Ukraine. At the heart of Masha Khotimski’s new soundtrack are the Hasidic “nigun” songs, which have emerged from Jewish-Ukrainian communities since the eighteenth century.
Nina Goslar, from ZDF/ARTE’s editorial department, will introduce the movie. Afterwards, she and composer Masha Khotimski will discuss the composition and the movie.
Solomon Michoels as marriage broker Menachem Mendel (center) at the port of Odesa, copyright: Filmmuseum München (Munich Film Museum)
Solomon Michoels as marriage broker Menachem Mendel (center) at the port of Odesa, copyright: Filmmuseum München (Munich Film Museum)
