The National Yiddish Theater -- Folksbiene is sponsoring a dizzying event celebrating Yiddish culture in all its multifarious forms in New York City June 14-21, and I have stories on both the musical offerings (and here) and the some of the film programs in this week's Jewish Week. Called Kulturfest, the week-long program includes some tantalizing cinematic offerings. In addition the ones I mentioned in my brief story, I would also draw your attention to the screenings of Emmanuel Finkiel's Voyages, a lovely film about French-Yiddish culture which played theatrically in NYC, and two films by the wonderfully polymathic Yale Strom, who is something of a kulturfest himself. I am particularly fond of his 2002 documentary L'chayim Comrade Stalin, a recollection of the bizarre events surrounding Stalin's decision to establish a republic for the Jews in the middle of nowhere, the only "nation" in history whose official language was Yiddish.
Guess who! A Yiddishist he wasn't.
Overall, Kulturfest is a groaning table of delights, laden with music, theater and cinema. The schedule is too complicated for me to even begin to enumerate, so I direct you to the website for the event. And hope that this will become an annual shindig.
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