From Shtetl to Swing | Artline Films

From Shtetl to Swing
.

A film by Fabienne Rousso-Lenoir.

Between 1880 and 1924, two and a half million Jews had reached the breaking point. Fleeing persecution in Russia and Eastern Europe, they packed up kit and kaboodle, kissed the shtetl goodbye, and migrated to the U.S. of A.
America was about to completely reshape the Jewish identity. In turn, the Jewish popular song would take 20th century American music on a joy ride to beat the band!
Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Larry Hart, Benny Goodman, Al Jolson, the Marx Brothers, Sophie Tucker, Fanny Brice, Molly Picon, Eddie Cantor, Sholom Secunda, Ben Pollack, Gene Krupa, Harold Arlen, Artie Shaw, the Barry Sisters…
These Lower East Side street kids became cultural pioneers. Eager to shake off their “greenhorn” past, they throw off the yoke of tradition, while taking full advantage of their Yiddish musical heritage. They dive into America’s cross-cultural mix and absorb ethnic influences and Negro rhythms right and left.
What emerged was the cross-pollination of Jewish music and Black music – two traditions born out of exile and longing, both charged with boundless energy and humor, defying all the rules, and blessed with astonishing tonal freedom. Together they blossom into a completely new, extremely diverse musical lexicon that truly gave voice to the American melting pot.
Turning a fresh, scholarly, playful eye to the cultural attitudes and musical styles that proliferated throughout this extraordinarily rich period, to its collective journey from synagogue choirs to Harlem hotspots, from Yiddish theater to musical extravaganza, from klezmer to ragtime, from symphonic jazz to swing – all the way from the Bowery to Tin Pan Alley to Broadway to Hollywood – FROM SHTETL TO SWING recounts the ebullient, screaming-to-be-told story of a musical metamorphosis born in darkest Russia, only to blaze across the sky of the Great White Way.

Press

"A magnificent epic, moving and lyrical, dedicated to tolerance. »
Le Figaro

"A great documentary, it does not chatter, but it will unearth images ever seen on the stars you've always heard. »
Le Parisien

"When intelligence is combined with passion, when the rich archives in background while editing beats and beautifully fitted to speech, the great art of lyrical documentary reaches conqueror, jubilant emotion. »
Télérama

"The biggest names in jazz history along this great human and musical, developed from archival images. »
Major TV Channels

"The archive images of the American music scene, the origin of a cultural melting pot. A pure delight. »
Télé 7 Jours

"An extraordinary work of archivist. (…) A fairytale, where all people can live in harmony, where music knows soften smooth ... "
It

"Wonderful documentary Fabienne Rousso-Lenoir (…) carried by a splendid soundtrack. »
The Inrokuptibles

« Du shtetl à Brodway livre une odyssée musicale, synagogue choirs of the chorus lines. »
Political

"Not to be missed"
Jewish News