When Our Bubbas and Zeydas Were Young: The Schaechter Sisters on Stage
Ven di bobes un zeydes zenen geven yung: Di Shekhter-tekhter af der bine
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Miami Jewish Film Festival
Montreal International Yiddish Theatre Festival
Follow Di Shekhter-tekhter, accompanied by their Musical Director and father, Binyumen Schaechter, in this film premiere of their one-of-a-kind musical revue, which has enthralled audiences around the world. Attracting a new generation to Yiddish song, the dynamic duo brings to life the youth of our grandparents in Eastern Europe, as well as upon arrival in America. Through a potpourri of characters from the Yiddish songbook, featuring great Yiddish composers and writers, such as Sholem Aleichem, Itsik Manger and Mordecai Gebirtig, they inspire us with themes that are universal and contemporary, such as young love, family relationships and class struggle. Academy Award®-nominated director Josh Waletzky, best known for Partisans of Vilna and Image Before My Eyes, incorporates interviews in the film that provide an insight into this family and their unique mission to share Yiddish with the world. The film, 58 minutes in length, is almost entirely in Yiddish, with English subtitles throughout.
There was a Q&A with the participants (see below) after the premiere, followed by a DVD signing.
"This film is bound to appeal to every audience!" - Theodore Bikel
"A charming trip down Yiddish Memory Lane with the delightful Shekhter-tekhter. I 'kvelled' and so will you." - Mike Burstyn
"The perfect l'dor vador gift for parents to give to their children, teachers to give to their students, and grandchildren to give back to their grandparents." - Tovah Feldshuh
About the Participants
The Schaechter Sisters / Di Shekhter-tekhter
Also known as Reyna and Temma Schaechter (age 16 and 12), they first performed together with the all-Yiddish kids’ ensemble, the Pripetshik Singers, who appeared at Lincoln Center and then at Shea Stadium (2005), where they sang “Lomir geyn tsu dem bolshpil” in front of 50,000 Mets fans while standing on the dugout during the 7th inning stretch. Reyna was also featured in the film about the group, Pripetshik Sings Yiddish! Reyna and Temma gave their premiere performance as Di Shekhter-tekhter in Paris, 2008, with their show Our Zeydas and Bubbas As Children. They have traveled around the world with the show, including Australia, France, Israel, Toronto, Los Angeles, and across the USA. Separately, Reyna was featured opposite Mike Burstyn in the Off-Broadway hit On Second Avenue (2005). The sisters were raised bilingually, and perform both in English and in Yiddish. www.YiddishSisters.com
Binyumen Schaechter (Executive Producer, Musical Director and Arranger), a.k.a. Ben Schaechter, is an award-winning composer whose music has been heard in five Off-Broadway shows, on major TV networks, and in many recordings. He is also Conductor of the acclaimed all-Yiddish 40-voice Jewish People’s Philharmonic Chorus (www.thejppc.org). He and his 3 sisters speak Yiddish with their children, giving his parents 16 fluent Yiddish-speaking grandchildren.
Josh Waletzky (Director and Producer) is an Academy Award®-nominated documentary filmmaker who has often focused on Eastern European Jewish themes, as in Image Before My Eyes and Partisans of Vilna. A singer-songwriter and a founder of the klezmer revival, his original Yiddish songs were featured on the Yugntruf album Vaserl and the 2002 CD Crossing the Shadows. His two children speak Yiddish.
Eric Goldman (Introductory Remarks, Moderator of Q&A) is founder and president of Ergo Media, a New Jersey-based video publishing company specializing in Jewish and Israeli video. Ergo Media is the Distributor of the DVD, When Our Bubbas and Zeydas Were Young: The Schaechter Sisters on Stage. www.jewishvideo.com