Song of the Lodz Ghetto is one of the feature documentaries selected to play at the St. Louis International Film Festival. The 2011 edition of the festival runs from Nov. 10-20, and Song will be screened on the last day, on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema in St. Louis, MO.
The St. Louis screening comes just one week after a highly successful and well-attended showing of the film in Rochester, New York. The showing was the second screening of the film in Rochester this year, four months after a screening at the Rochester Jewish Film Festival in July. This showing was organized by Dr. Alexander Kurchin and two other Rochester residents whose parents were from Lodz. The screening took place at the Beth Sholom synagogue and was attended by more than a hundred people.
After an unexpectedly long delay, arrangements have finally been made to premiere Song of the Lodz Ghetto in Montreal. The screening is set for 7:30 p.m., on Wednesday, May 25, at the historic Outremont Theatre, at 1248 Bernard Ave. West. The screening is sponsored by KlezKanada, the festival of Yiddish music and culture, in association with the Jewish Public Library, the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre, and the Bronfman Israel Experience Centre. Tickets will be available May 2 and can be ordered in advance from the Outremont box office, by phone at 514-495-9944, or at the door. As in Toronto, the film will be projected in high definition and I will be there to meet the audience after the showing. We also expect to have several of the Holocaust survivors who appeared in the film and others from the Montreal area at the screening.
Audiences in Toronto will have another opportunity to see Song of the Lodz Ghetto next month. The film has been chosen for an encore presentation at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival (TJFF), co-sponsored once again by the Ashkenaz Festival, to take place at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, May 8, at the Sheppard Grande Theatre in the Yonge/Sheppard Centre. The film will be projected in high definition and I will be there to answer questions after the showing. The premiere of the film in September, 2010 was completely sold out and many were turned away at the box office. Tickets are now available through the TJFF box office: www.tjff.com or phone 416-599-8433. Buy your tickets early to avoid disappointment if it sells out again.
We are pleased to announce that North American and Israeli distribution rights to the film have been acquired by the Los Angeles distribution company, Seventh Art Releasing. The company first took notice of the film prior to its screening in the Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto and requested a screening copy. Upon viewing the film, Udy Epstein, the principal of Seventh Art, immediately called me and expressed his admiration for the film and his desire to distrbute it. Following a negotiation, Seventh Art Releasing and Sun-Street, my production company, signed an agreement.
Seventh Art Releasing has just started to enter the film into major festivals, which is the first step in the process of getting exposure for the film and building up audiences for the film in various countries.
A special screening of the the preview version of Song of the Lodz Ghetto was a significant success and the hit film of the 2010 edition of the AshKenaz Jewish Culture Festival held recently in Toronto. The screening was co-sponsored by the Toronto Jewish Film Festival as a special event.
Fuelled by demand from the large Holocaust survivor community in Toronto, and from devoted attendees of both the film and music festivals, the film sold out three days before the screening and many people were turned away from the on-line ticket office. On the day of the screening, people began to line up at the Sheppard Grande Theatre at 4:00 in the afternoon, three hours before the film was due to start, in the hope of getting tickets. Because of the demand, Ashkenaz Festival organizers released fifty tickets that were being held back for seats that were very close to the giant screen. Many people were turned away at the box office.
After the screening, I spoke briefly to thank those involved in the production, among them cinematographers Robert Holmes and Colin Allison, and recording engineer Danny Greenspoon. The star of the concert performances in the film, Brave Old World’s singer and violinist, Michael Alpert, was present at the screening and received a prolonged round of applause when he was introduced. But the warmest and most extended applause was reserved for the three Holocaust survivors from Toronto who attended the screening, Genia Rybowski, Irving Stal, and Rabbi Peretz Weitzman. The audience, moved deeply by the words of these three in the film, were affected even more by their acftual presence in the theatre, and gave them a lengthy and heartfelt ovation when they stood up after being introduced. It was a highly emotional climax to an emotional evening.
Following the screening, we had a reception at a restaurant near the theatre in the Yonge/Sheppard Centre, attended by about 125 members of the audience who were either friends of the production team or of the sponsoring organizations. Much to my surprise, I was given a loud and very lengthy round of appaluse when I entered the restaurant. The rest of the evening was spent with many guests engaged in a lively discussion about the film and many of the issues it raises.
