Klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals and pianist Donald Sosin bring vivid life to a classic of German-Jewish filmmaking.
The film
In an 1860s Galician shtetl, the teenage son of the community’s rabbi disobeys his father and leaves home to become a Shakespearean actor in Vienna. As delighted as he is by the world of theatre and his success in it, he also longs for home and a way to reconcile his religious heritage with his love of secular literature. Directed by E. A. Dupont in exquisite visual style that evokes Rembrandt, The Ancient Law is an outstanding example of the creativity of Jewish filmmakers in 1920s Germany.
The music
Alicia Svigals and Donald Sosin have been bringing audiences to their feet throughout the U.S. and Europe with their unique and stirring violin and piano scores for Jewish-themed silent films. Sosin is one of the world’s finest silent film musicians; Svigals is the world's leading klezmer violinist and a founder of the Grammy-winning Klezmatics.
Doors 7pm
Duration 2 hours 5 mins
Music: Alicia Svigals (violin), Donald Sosin (piano)
Director: E. A. Dupont
Year: 1923
Country: Germany
Length: 135 mins
With thanks to Deutsche Kinematek
Funding support provided by The Sunrise Foundation for Education and the Arts.
