Jewish Film Festival

Sholem Aleichem: Laughing In The Darkness

Featuring the voices of Peter Riegert and Rachel Dratch, this is a riveting and superb portrait of the great writer whose stories became the basis of the Broadway musical, Fiddler on the Roof.  As it tells the fascinating tale of the rebellious genius who created an entirely new literature, SHOLEM ALEICHEM plumbs the depths of a 19th century Jewish world locked in crisis and on the cusp of profound change—a world captured with brilliant humor.  The sophisticated author was not just a witness to the creation of a new modern Jewish identity, but was one of the very men who forged it.  Using rarely seen photographs and archive footage along with expert interviews, the film brings to life as never before Sholem Aleichem’s world and his timeless stories.