Film Screening: Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness (Falmouth Jewish Congregation Summer Series)

The Falmouth Jewish Congregation Tuesday Summer Series continues with Joseph Dorman's evocative 2011 documentary about the great Yiddish writer, Sholem Aleichem.

www.sholemaleichemthemovie.com

“A rich … modern history of East European Jewry. Conjures the look and vitality of shtetl life so vividly you can almost … smell the pungent aromas of the cooking.”
—Stephen Holden, New York Times

“ Wonderfully rich, like one of Tevye’s monologues, Joseph Dorman’s “Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness” captures the spirit of a man and his times. Dorman’s touch is sure, his pacing fleet and his chorus of voices marvelous.”
–Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune 

A riveting portrait of the great writer whose stories became the basis of the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof and whose own life was every bit as colorful as the characters in his stories. Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness tells the tale of the rebellious genius who created an entirely new literature. Plumbing the depths of a Jewish world locked in crisis and anti-Semitic violence and on the cusp of profound change, he captured that world with brilliant humor. Sholem Aleichem was not just a witness to the creation of a new modern Jewish identity, but one of the very men who shaped it. Yiddish literature was the best witness to this Jewish transformation and nowhere was this more acutely true than in the stories of Sholem Aleichem.

Using rarely seen photographs and archive footage, and interviews the film brings to life as never before Sholem Aleichem’s world and his timeless stories.

The Summer Series is open to the public and welcoming to all. Purchase a Season Pass for added convenience and a discount: $36 / $50 non-members for all six events on Tuesday evening in July and on August 21 and 28. Purchase tickets at the door starting at 7:00pm or send a check for a season pass to the congregation's office. See a full schedule on the FJC website: www.falmouthjewish.org.