THE LAST KLEZMER U.S. Independents - Documentaries

Leopold Kozlowski served as a music consultant and as an actor in Schindler’s List, bu1 his greatest role is that of the last performing klezmer musician from the Polish musical tradition. Kozlowski is currently’the sole preserver of the dying art form. Poland once boasted of thousands of klezmorim, but the holocaust and the emigration of Jews from Poland has left this form of Jewish folk music at risk of obsolescence. In the capacity of conductor and music teacher, this impassioned man has made it his life’s work to preserve Klezmer music and Jewish culture. Ironically, most of his pupils are Polish Catholics. Documentary filmmaker and klezmer protege Yale Strom takes a fascinating look at this heroic man and the events that sparked such devotion. Music, history, and biography intersect in this timely and insightful look at one man’s struggle to keep the past and its lessons alive.