“Joe’s Violin, a story of the emotional musical bond between a Polish-American Holocaust survivor and a young Bronx violinist, has been nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary short subject,” writes James Bennett II on Tuesday (1/24) at New York classical radio station WQXR. “The short film, directed and produced by Kahane Cooperman, begins with the eponymous Joseph Feingold. After World War II, during which his family was broken apart by the Holocaust, he awaited passage to America in a displaced persons camp. There, he bought a violin, and the music evoked the joyful memories of his childhood. Decades later, Feingold donated his violin [during a] WQXR instrument drive … and his violin … went to the Bronx Global Leadership Institute for Girls, a charter school in the nation’s poorest congressional district. The school … includes a comprehensive violin program….. One particularly gifted student, Brianna Perez, was identified as the recipient of Joe’s violin. The film traces their initial meeting and blooming friendship.” Included is a link to the 25-minute film and a September 2016 conversation at WQXR with Perez, Feingold, and the filmmakers.
Posted January 25, 2017
