The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground

Description

Closing Night Film
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Rochester Jewish Film Festival

World Premiere Toronto Jewish Film Festival
Official Selection Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival

“Entertaining and revealing” – The Boston Globe

“As compelling as the music are the members’ life stories and the push-pull dynamic of their creative process; this jazzy documentary by Erik Greenberg Anjou touches on not only Jewish survival but also how to make enduring art in a fluctuating industry.” – Chicago Reader

“And it is the songs, with their echoes of loss, love and friendship, as much as the musicians’ candid and complex relationship, that makes ‘The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground” such a bittersweet and rewarding experience. – The Jewish Journal Boston North

“A bittersweet and rewarding experience.”-JTNews

“Fascinating” -Independent Online

“Well worth seeing” -East Bay Express

“Compelling” -Examiner.com, Philadelphia

“The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground combines the best elements of a backstage doc, a concert film and an eye-opening lesson in remixing Jewish culture.” -Inside Bay Area

“A fine documentary on a fascinating group who you really get to know during its course.” -Audiophile Audition

Synopsis

The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground, is a feature-length documentary about the Grammy Award-winning, New York-based, klezmer band. The Klezmatics have made numerous television and radio appearances, including PBS’s Great Performances series with Itzhak Perlman as well as on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion on NPR. In 2006 the band released “Wonder Wheel: Lyrics by Woody Guthrie.” It was the their first English language LP and won a Grammy Award for Best World Music. Anjou and crew followed the Klezmatics for over three years capturing the band’s highs, lows, and relentless march forward.

Director

Erik Greenberg Anjou

ERIK GREENBERG ANJOU is a graduate of Middlebury College (B.A.), Northwestern University (M.A.) and the American Film Institute (Directing Program). His film endeavors encompass both the narrative and documentary arenas, having directed “the cool surface” (Columbia TriStar) starring Robert Patrick and Teri Hatcher, and “A Cantor;s Tale”(Ergo Media). “A Cantor’s Tale” has to date won the Best Documentary Film prize at the World Eye Jewish Film Festival (Tel Aviv), the Bronze Phoenix at the Warsaw International Jewish Film Festival, and Best Documentary Film at the Miami, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. Jewish Film Festivals. Erik’s current projects include “8: Ivy League Football & America” featuring Tommy Lee Jones, Brian Dennehy, George Shultz and Calvin Hill, as well as the feature film, “The Sixth Commandment”with Israeli Producer Rony Yacov (“A Triumph of the Spirit,” “City of Ghosts”,”A Dog of Flanders”). His new documentary on Jewish music and culture is “The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground” starring the Grammy Award-winning band, Theodore Bikel, Nora Guthrie and Chava Alberstein.