DVDS

Joe's Violin

color & b/w. 26 min. Kahane Cooperman, dist. by Cinema Guild, www.cinemaguild.com. 2017. DVD ISBN 9780781515603. $99.95; acad. libs. $295. Public performance; closed-captioned. MUSIC
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Joe Feingold's violin had helped him cope with life as a Polish Holocaust survivor, but he no longer played it. A sense of what he suffered during World War II is conveyed via his testimony and grim archival footage. When a New York radio station encouraged people with unused musical instruments to donate them to schools, he did so. Brianna Perez was a "survivor" of a broken Spanish-speaking family attending the Bronx Global Institute for Girls (BGLIG, pronounced Big League), where everyone learns to play the violin. The two stories converge when Joe's instrument is put into Brianna's hands, which she plays until she graduates. At 91, Joe meets 12-year-old Brianna, and they both express their gratitude for the fate of his violin. This well-made short documentary was a 2017 Academy Award nominee.
VERDICT A happy cross-generational, cross-cultural connection story.
Reviewed by Bonnie Jo Dopp, Libn. Emerita, Univ. of Maryland, College Park , Oct 15, 2017
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