October 21, 2004
The Sound and Light Cinematic Duo
The Sound and Light Cinematic Duo (Merlin Shepherd/ clarinet, bass clarinet and Polina
Shepherd / piano) are performing new and traditional Jewish music to accompany the Yuri
Morozov Jewish Film Archive (Kiev).
and as part of the UK Jewish Film Festival
17th October, London, the Screen on the Hill
14th November, Birmingham, Mac
18th November, Manchester, The Cornerhouse
28th November, Nottingham, Broadway Cinema
also as part of the Brighton Festival of Jewish Music
5th December, Brighton, Sallis Benny Theatre
for more information http://www.ukjewishfilmfestival.org.uk/
The unique UK Premiere of the Yuri Morozov archive contains some of the earliest
cinematic representations of east European Jewish communities and more. Black and White
silent films as early as 1910 depict the Jews of Ukraine and their daily lives in both
narrative and documentary forms. Many of these films have never been seen outside of
Ukraine and some have not been screened for over 80 years.
Merlin and Polina Shepherd represent two nations although their families come from very
close geographical locations. At the end of the 19th Century, Merlin's great-grandparents
emigrated from Ukraine and Romania to escape pogroms and seek a better world in the
west. Polina's grandparents escaped from the Sho'ah (Holocaust) by fleeing from
Kiev/Odessa to Siberia. The different and yet vital sustenance of his western Jewish
upbringing and her eastern one have brought them to a unique closeness in musical,
creative and spiritual terms.
Their playing acts as the perfect foil for these amazing historic documents. With their
deep training, musical experience and by using tradition musical pieces and stylistically
accurate new compositions, these films are magically brought back to life almost a
century after their first screenings.
By transportation backwards in time with this historically accurate visual and aural
experience, these two world class musicians bring their audiences forward to a deeper
understanding of present and latter day Yiddishkeit.
The films:
L'chaim, Dir A. Mietr and K. Ganzer, 1910 9 mins.
Sore's Grief Dir A. Arkatov, 1913, 13 mins.
Jews and the Land, Dir. Abram Room, 1927, 17 mins.
Against Fathers' Will (Mabul) Dir Evgeny Ivanov-Barkov, 1926, 43
mins.