MAKOR PROGRAM DESCRIPTION 

PANEL DISCUSSION
Returning to Krakow
Wed, June 9, 7:30 pm, $12; $15 at the door
Featuring: Frank London, musician, the Klezmatics, Klezmer Brass All-Stars
Michael Alpert, musician, Brave New World
Michael Steiman, President, Friends of Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow
Michael Steinlauf, Professor of Jewish History, Graetz College, Philadelphia, who has spoken at the JCF in Krakow
What does it feel like for a Jew to return to Poland? Hear about the powerful mix of emotions  --   sometimes sweet, sometimes painful  --  that Jews feel when visiting or re-visiting Poland and taking part in the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow.

FILM
Austeria (1982), by Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Mon, June 7, 7 pm, $15 (with discussion); 9:30 pm, $9 (film only)
Adapted from Julian Stryjkowski's novel set in Polish Galicia at the outbreak of World War I, Austeria is a stunning recreation of the history of the Polish-Jewish community of the time. With its vivid folklore, Hasidic customs and culture, and its unique humor; it is a portrait of the not very distant past, a vanished world, which we today can only glimpse as reflected light. Polish and Yiddish with English Subtitles, 109 min.
Featuring post-screening discussion with Rabbi Michael Schudrich, chief Rabbi of Warsaw and Łódź, following the 7pm screening.

Klezmer Musicians Travel “Home” to Krakow, narrated by Theodore Bikel; and
From Kristallnacht to Crystal Day: A Synagogue in Wroclaw Glows, by Ellen Friedland and Curt Fissel
Tue, June 8, 7 pm, $15 (with discussion); 8:30 pm, $9 (film only)
Narrated by Theodore Bikel, Klezmer Musicians Travel “Home” to Krakow intersperses traditional and nouveau-Klezmer music with thoughtful interviews and commentary about why people return annually to the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow. Among the musicians highlighted are Michael Alpert, Andy Statman, Dave Krakauer, Frank London, and Cantor Benzion Miller; among other commentators: Shevach Weiss, former President of Yad Vashem and former Israeli Ambassador to Poland; Konstanty Gebert, Gazeta Wyborcza columnist and Midrasz editor; Ruth Ellen Gruber, author on Eastern European Jewry, and Janusz Makuch, the festival director.
From Kristallnacht to Crystal Day: A Synagogue in Wroclaw Glows looks at the cycle of a community’s growth from destruction to rebirth through the eyes of the White Stork Synagogue located in what is today Wroclaw, Poland, and was Breslau, Germany, before WWII.
Featuring post-screening discussion with filmmaker Ellen Friedland following the 7pm screening. 

Klezmer on Fish Street (2003) by Yale Strom
Wed, June 9, 7 pm, $15 (with panel discussion); 9:30 pm, $9 (film only)
Thu, June 10, 7 pm, $15 (with musical performance); 9:30 PM, $9(film only)
Yale Strom’s powerful documentary artfully weaves together real stories about the revival of Jewish culture in Poland, including Jewish artists and intellectuals returning to live in Poland, and Poles embracing Judaism after discovering that their ancestors were Jewish. Add to this mix the Holocaust Tourist Trade and you have a strange mixture of genuine interest, nostalgia, and fetishization. English, Polish, Yiddish, and German with English subtitles.
Featuring post-screening panel discussion with filmmaker/musician/author Yale Strom, Rabbi Yonah Bookstein, and Polish Jew Michael Berkowicz following June 9  7pm screening. 

MUSIC
Frank London’s Klezmer Brass All-Stars
Mon, June 7, 8 pm, $15
The mystical high priest of New-Wave Avant-Klez jazz and Klezmatic’s founder, Frank London, has assembled a group that defies phony political barriers and exposes solid musical commonalties among Roma, Jewish, and Arab music. The original styles of klezmorim had failed to re-surface until these extraordinary brass musicians were brought together by London. Together they combine their knowledge, history, and talents to create magical sounds together. Music in memory of the old traditions, uncovered secrets, and tales of incredible lost sounds.

David Krakauer’s Klezmer Madness!
Tue, June 8, 8 pm, $20
As one of the foremost musicians of the vital new wave of klezmer, David Krakauer has toured the globe with his celebrated Klezmer Madness! Ensemble. While honoring the traditional roots of this music of Eastern European Jewry, Krakauer integrates elements of jazz, rock, and funk to make this one of the most exciting ensembles of the new klezmer revival.

Golem / Pharoah’s Daughter
Wed, June 9, 8 pm, $15
New York-based Klezmer/Rock band Golem (named after the legendary Jewish Frankenstein of Prague) has infused the world music scene with a breath of fresh air from Eastern Europe. Their explosive onstage attitude gets Klezmer to rock by injecting Eastern European melodies and Old World tunes with ferocious energy, sexuality, and humor.  Stirred by the music and cultures of the Middle East and Africa, Bassya Schecter’s Pharaoh’s Daughter creates a brand of music that combines Jewish spiritual music, world beat, and the intense lyrical detail of Pop singer/songwriting.