Country: Austria, Argentina | Type: Documentary | Year: 2023 | Duration: 117 minutes |
In German, Hungarian, Ukrainian, and other languages with Ukrainian subtitles.

ABOUT THE FILM

Argentinian cameraman Leandro makes a living by filming Jewish weddings. He has little interest in his family's heritage until he falls in love with Paloma, a clarinetist at one of the weddings. Paloma plays in a Klezmer band that specializes in Yiddish Jewish folk music. To get closer to Paloma, Leandro invents a fake documentary project about Klezmer music, and together they embark on an emotional and unpredictable journey through Eastern Europe in search of almost lost Klezmer melodies and their last performers.

WHY SHOULD WATCH?

The film "In Search of Klezmers" goes far beyond typical musical documentaries. This hybrid road movie, directed by Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann, the grandchildren of Jewish immigrants, combines a fictional plot with a personal story, with the directors playing film versions of themselves. Their expedition to the borders of Ukraine, Romania, and Moldova in search of vanishing cultural heritage unveils the context of the Klezmer tradition and the reasons for its gradual disappearance.

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS

Leandro Koch – An Argentinian screenwriter and director, studied film at the University of Cinema in Buenos Aires.

Paloma Schachmann – An Argentinian musician, director, and researcher of Klezmer music.

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

• Berlin Film Festival, Panorama Section, 2023