The Jewish Summer Festival was first organized in 1998 with the goal of introducing Jewish culture (including its music, dance, fine art, books, and films) to as many people as possible. The central location was Europe's biggest and most beautiful Jewish temple, the Great Synagogue on Dohány Street. The building is the nexus of Hungary's Jewish community, serving as an occasional performance venue even since its construction was completed in 1859; both Liszt and Saint-Saëns played the pipe organ here.
In the years since its inception, the Jewish Summer Festival expanded to additional venues like the Opera House, Urania Movie Theater, the Budapest Exhibition Hall, and the Örökmozgó Movie Theater. This year, nearly 30 different programs are staged at seven different locations during August 30-September 7, but the Jewish Summer Festival is about much more than Jewish-related entertainment. The aim of the festival is to highlight the importance of peaceful cultural coexistence with a broad diversity of attractions that can appeal to anyone. The program of the festival is consciously multicultural with a wide variety of genres, as fans of classical symphonies, world music, jazz, and pop can find events that suit their taste, just like those who wish to enjoy art, film, and dance. An important goal is to attract as many members of the younger generation as possible, hence we continuously raise the number of light, dynamic, and popular productions and alternative locations. In recognition of the festival's diversity of programmes, we've highlighted different programs that take place this year, and check out www.jewishfestival.hu for complete English-language details.Klezmer-Evening – The Harmony of Jewish Music and Gastronomy @ Danubius Hotel Gellért: August 30,
6:30pm.
While enjoying Jewish delicacies provided by the head chef of the Hotel Gellért, László Héjja, and the downtown Jewish food bar, Dafke Deli, guests will see special concerts and performances.
The Klezmer evening of one the most famous hotels of Budapest has become a tradition after last year’s debut as the opening gastro-cultural program of the Jewish Summer Festival, where Jászai Mari Prize-winning actorJózsef Székhelyi teams up with Liszt Ferenc Prize-winning composer Péter Gerendás to offer a special performance together. This show will be followed by Tzomet Band’s concert, entitled "From Makó to Jerusalem", featuring exotic musical covers. Before the performance, guests may taste snacks from the new downtown food bar, Dafke Deli. Participants of the seated dinner are offered a true gastronomic experience by the redefined menu of the Gellért's leading chef, László Héjja, prepared from the ingredients of authentic Jewish cuisine accompanied by kosher wines of Disznókő Winery.
Pawel Pawlikowski: IDA @ Uránia National Movie Theater: August 30,
8:30pm.
From acclaimed director Pawel Pawlikowski (Last Resort, My Summer of Love) comes IDA, a moving and intimate drama about a young nun in 1960s Poland who, on the verge of taking her vows, discovers a dark family secret dating from the terrible years of the Nazi occupation.
18-year-old Anna (stunning newcomer Agata Trzebuchowska), a sheltered orphan raised in a convent, is preparing to become a nun when the Mother Superior insists she first visit her sole living relative. Naïve Anna soon finds herself in the presence of her aunt Wanda (Agata Kulesza), a worldly and cynical communist-party insider, who shocks her with the declaration that her real name is Ida and her Jewish parents were murdered during the Nazi occupation. This revelation triggers a heart-wrenching journey into the countryside, to the family house and into the secrets of the repressed past, evoking the haunting legacy of the Holocaust and the realities of postwar communism. In this beautifully directed film, Pawlikowski returns to his native Poland for the first time in his career to confront some of the more contentious issues in the history of his birthplace. Powerfully written and eloquently shot, IDA is a masterful evocation of a time, a dilemma, and a defining historical moment; IDA is also personal, intimate, and human. The weight of history is everywhere, but the scale falls within the scope of a young woman learning about the secrets of her own past. This intersection of the personal with momentous historic events makes for what is surely one of the most powerful and affecting films of the year.Ask the Stars – Concert Of The Budapest Klezmer Band @ Dohany Street Synagogue: August 31, 7pm.
Some people say that Klezmer music forms a cultural bridge between between Jews and Gentiles. If you don't believe it, see it for yourself!
The Budapest Klezmer Band is more than 20 years old, and has been widely acknowledged for its sonorous work, earning international esteem. Through their performances, they convert audiences all over the world to become Klezmer-music fans, bringing down barriers between Jewish and non-Jewish people with traditional melodies of Eastern Europe. The secret of the band's popularity is that bandleader Ferenc Jávori reaches back to Klezmer’s musical roots, and respectfully retaining old-time customs while creating his own style. The ensemble performs together with popular Hungarian singing actress Katya Tompos on the festival's official opening day.
Keep The Memory Alive –
A Journey Through the Holocaust @ Goldmark Hall: August 31-September 14, 10am-5:30pm Sundays-Thursdays, 10am-4pm Fridays.
A special poster exhibition with the works of art students from many different countries. The posters are centered around the topic of "Keep The Memory Alive –
A Journey Through the Holocaust".
"For us, there are two hearts in the world: one is Auschwitz, the other the United Nations.
The one is the remembrance of the past. The other is the determination never to let that past be repeated," said Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations. That quote inspired a special exhibition in memory of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. The 16 posters exhibited in the Goldmark Hall are the works of art students, some of whom didn't even have a personal connection to the topic, but could capture the essence of its importance like no other.My Daughter, Anne Frank @ MOM Cultural Center: September 2, 7pm.
This performance by the Budapest Dance Theater attempts to unravel the personality of this special, life-loving individual, balancing on the boundaries of dance and literature.
Experience the tragic life of Anne Frank and her immensely influential recorded thoughts with this touching dance performance. A little girl writes in her diary while the storm clouds of World War II continue to gather above her, before crashing into her family's world. There will be no boundaries between the two of you. Choreographer Béla Földi said that the aim was to make audience members feel like Anne Frank.
