Screenings/Official Selections
Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media
Katz JCC’s 26th Jewish Film Festival
Palm Springs Jewish Film Festival
Scott County Public Library
Rehoboth Film Society
Finkelstein Memorial Library
Bala Cynwyd Library
Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel

Synopsis

Leigh Nudelman is an Ashkenazi South African Jewish singer who is single-handedly reviving Yiddish music in Johannesburg. A fourth-generation South African, Leigh eloquently describes the power of Yiddish to connect her to her ancestors, while also expressing the struggles and joys of being Jewish in South Africa today. She describes singing Yiddish music as a feminist act that takes on new relevance in light of the crimes against women on October 7. In the film, she brings the residents of the Sandringham Gardens Retirement Community to their feet with renditions of Yiddish and South African favorites.

Director

Peter Decherney is an award-winning photographer, filmmaker, and author. He is a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he directs the Penn Global Documentary Institute and holds the Kahn Endowed Term Chair in the Humanities.

He has authored seven books, including Hollywood’s Copyright Wars and Hollywood: A Very Short Introduction, and has written for The New York Times, Forbes, and Inside Higher Ed. His photography of global Jewish communities has been widely exhibited, and his first photo book, Endless Exodus: The Jewish Experience in Ethiopia, is forthcoming.

Peter’s films explore migration and the political role of artists. His award-winning projects include The Heart of Puerto Rico (VR docuseries), Dreaming of Jerusalem (Discovery+), and Is It Because I’m a Girl. His recent work spotlights Jewish communities in Uganda.

A former Arts Envoy and Academy Scholar, Peter is also an acclaimed educator whose online Hollywood course has reached over 80,000 learners.

Jewish Film

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