JIFF: SHTTL

“Insightful, beautiful, and completely unforgettable. A towering, single-take masterpiece of the lives we’ve lost” — Slashfilm

In an extraordinary debut, writer-director Ady Walter reconstructs the vibrant complexity of pre-war life in a Jewish shtetl (or village) in 1941. Shot entirely in Yiddish language, SHTTL is an exciting piece of work contributing to the renaissance of a lost language.

This evocative, visually compelling film tells the expansive, multi-character story of a Jewish village in Ukraine, 24 hours before Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union as part of Operation Barbarossa. Shot in Ukraine, the film unspools with our knowledge of imminent terror and destruction looming, while at the same time focusing on the vitality of lives about to be destroyed. This is a ruminative, philosophical work of naturalism that insightfully depicts a place brimming with vibrancy and the romance, politics, and intrigue of everyday life.

Rating

Unclass15

Duration

109 min

Language

Yiddish (English subtitles)

Director

Ady Walter