“The Ancient Law,” with Alicia Svigals, Donald Sosin

he silent movie, “The Ancient Law,” will be presented in Santa Cruz, with music written and performed by Alicia Svigals and Donald Sosin. Ewald André Dupont’s 1923 silent masterpiece is the moving story of the rupture between a rabbi and his son in a Polish shtetl, when the young man abruptly leaves to become an actor in Vienna. With its fascinating attention to cultural detail, and an ensemble of some of the great actors of the day, the film still resonates deeply with audiences a hundred years on. Its lead actor, Ernst Deutsch, who plays the rabbi’s son, later appeared in The Third Man as Baron Kurtz.

Host Irene Herrmann, writes: “This event will be, for me, an emotional highpoint because my grandfather, Ernst Deutsch, stars in this film! He was my mother’s father and, as a Jew, was fortunate enough to “escape” Vienna in the late 30s for the safe haven of Hollywood, where he had a short film career before his historic return to the German-speaking stage in the late 40s. I will tell a few stories about him and about my mother.”

Alicia Svigals and Donald Sosin have been bringing audiences to their feet throughout the US and Europe with their unique and stirring violin and piano scores for Jewish-themed silent films. Sosin is one of the world’s top silent film musicians, and Svigals is the world’s leading klezmer violinist and a founder of the Grammy-winning Klezmatics.

To rsvp, click on “Read More” below or email herrmann.irene@gmail.com. Address provided upon rsvp. $25 donation requested; pay at the door via cash/check/venmo. Please bring a beverage to share for after the performance as we hang out and talk in the host’s garden patio.