Yiddish Goes Global

One day Phillip Todres was looking for a way to raise funds for institutions supporting the elderly in Cape Town, South Africa. His idea was to launch the Leah Todres Yiddish Song Festival. It was such a success that what was supposed to be a once off event turned into a decade long Yiddish revival.

To celebrate this renewed interest in the language and culture of Yiddish, a documentary has been made looking at the history of the festival. The result is Leah, Teddy & the Mandolin directed by Heather Blumenthal, which is having its world premiere on the 23rd August 2020.

As well as the showing of the documentary, a panel of experts from across the globe will be discussing the film. Guests include Scott Feinber,  Journalist at The Hollywood Reporter, Shane Baker – Director of the Congress for Jewish Culture in New York, Dr. Helen Beer – Lecturer in Yiddish at University College London, Galit Klas –Artistic Director of the Kadimah Yiddish Theatre in Melbourne, Sharon Pucker Rivo -Executive Director of the National Center for Jewish Film in Boston and Arun Viswanath who translated to Yiddish Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  

But its not just about entertainment, the premiere has another important function as a fundraiser for old age organisations hard hits by COVID 19. Yiddish is going global and this will be a chance to get an up close view.

You can listen to a interview with Phillip Todres on 101.9 Chai FM below:

To buy tickets  and support this documentary premiere you can click here.

To listen to more interviews like this click here