Shttl
{{distinguish|Shtetl (film){{!}}Shtetl (film)}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Shttl
| image = SHTTL Provisional Poster.webp
| caption =
| director = Ady Walter
| producer = Jean-Charles Lévy
Yuriy Artemenko
Ryta Grebenchikova
Olias Barco
| story =
| writer = Ady Walter
Samuel Fischler
| starring = Moshe Lobel
Saul Rubinek
Anisia Stasevich
Petro Ninovskyi
Antoine Millet
| music = David Federmann
| cinematography = Volodymyr Ivanov
| editing = Jérémie Bole du Chaumont
| studio = {{plainlist|
- Ukrainian Producers Hub
- Apple Tree Vision
- Forecast Pictures
}}
| distributor = Menemsha Films (USA)
| released = {{Film date|2022|10|13|BFI|2023|10|26|Ukraine|2023|12|13|France|df=y}}
| runtime = 114 minutes
| country = Ukraine
France
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Shttl (Yiddish: שטטל, Ukrainian: Шттл) is a 2022 Ukrainian–French one-shot drama film written and directed by Ady Walter and starring Moshe Lobel and Saul Rubinek.{{cite news |last=Kirshner |first=Sheldon |date=January 11, 2023 |title=Shttl Resurrects A Vanished World |newspaper=The Times of Israel |url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/shttl-resurrects-a-vanished-world/ |accessdate=July 6, 2023}}{{cite web |last=Liphshiz |first=Cnaaan |date=August 11, 2021 |title=Filmmakers constructed an acre-sized shtetl for a Ukrainian WWII film. Now they want to preserve it as a museum. |url=https://www.jta.org/2021/08/11/global/filmmakers-constructed-an-acre-sized-shtetl-for-a-ukrainian-wwii-film-now-they-want-to-preserve-it-as-a-museum |accessdate=July 6, 2023 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}{{cite news |last=Lipshiz |first=Cnaan |date=August 11, 2021 |title=Acre-sized shtetl for Ukrainian WWII film to become a museum |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/acre-sized-shtetl-for-ukrainian-wwii-film-to-become-a-museum-676437 |accessdate=July 6, 2023}} The film depicts the lives of a Jewish shtetl on the eve of Operation Barbarossa. It was filmed in Ukraine six months before the 2022 Russian invasion.
Shttl premiered at the 2022 London Film Festival,{{Cite web |last=Levitt |first=Barry |date=2022-10-18 |title=SHTTL Review: A Towering, Single-Take Masterpiece Of The Lives We've Lost [London Film Festival] |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/1059004/shttl-reivew-a-towering-single-take-masterpiece-of-the-lives-weve-lost-london-film-festival/ |access-date=2022-10-31 |website=/Film |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=SHTTL |url=https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/Online/article/shttl |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=BFI London Film Festival 2022 |language=en}}{{dead link|date=October 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} and won the Audience Award one week later at the Rome Film Festival.{{Cite web |title=Winners of the Rome Film Fest 2022 – Fondazione Cinema per Roma |date=22 October 2022 |url=https://www.romacinemafest.it/en/winners-2022/ |access-date=2022-10-31 |language=en-US}}
The missing 'e' in the title (normally spelled "shtetl") is a reference to Georges Perec's La disparition, a 1969 novel which doesn't contain the letter. The missing 'e', in French pronounced the same way as "eux" (they), represents, according to Walter, their absence, the void left behind in the Shoah; Perec's father died in the war, and his mother was killed in Auschwitz.{{Cite web |last=Wiseman |first=Andreas |date=2022-12-16 |title=Ukraine-Shot Shoah Feature 'Shttl' Boarded By Upgrade Productions |url=https://deadline.com/2022/12/ukraine-shot-shoah-movie-shttl-upgrade-productions-1235200889/ |access-date=2023-08-16 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}
On September 8, 2023, it was announced that Shttl is on the shortlist to represent Ukraine for the 96th Academy Awards.{{Cite web |date=2023-09-07 |title=Shortlist for Ukraine's Oscars submissions announced |url=https://kyivindependent.com/shortlist-for-ukrainian-oscars-submissions-announced/ |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=The Kyiv Independent |language=en}}
The film received two Golden Dzyga nominations by the Ukrainian Film Academy for its cinematography and production design.{{Cite web |title=Оголошено список номінантів на VIII Національну Кінопремію "Золота Дзиґа" {{!}} Новини |url=https://uafilmacademy.org/news/ogolosheno-spisok-nominantiv-na-viii-natsionalnu-kinopremiju-zolota-dziga.html |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=Українська Кіноакадемія |language=uk}}
Plot
Mendele, an aspiring filmmaker, has left his Hasidic community and joined the Red Army. On June 21, 1941, he returns to his shtetl in Western Ukraine, along with his Ukrainian best friend, Demyan. They plan to run away with the Rebbe's daughter, Yuna. However, she is already set to marry Folie, a zealous Hasid hoping to succeed the Rebbe as leader of the shtetl.
The Soviet Union has already been infiltrating the shtetl, indoctrinating the community with Soviet propaganda, and threatening the Jewish way of life. The conflict of contemporary ideologies is inflamed by Mendele's presence, as he speaks with old friends and intervenes in local matters.
Meanwhile, just across the border with Poland, Nazi Germany is preparing for their imminent invasion of the Soviet Union.
Cast
- Moshe Lobel as Mendele
- Anisia Stasevich as Yuna
- Petro Ninovskyi as Demyan
- Saul Rubinek as Rebbe Weitsenzang
- Antoine Millet as Folie
- Daniel Kenigsberg as Shloime
- Emily Karpel as Beilke
- Oleksandr Yeremenko as Menachem
- Lili Rosen as Zishe
- Yurko Kritenko as Shmulke
- Philipp Mogilnitskiy as Noach
- Yevheniya Miakenka as Woman 1
- Valeria Shpak as Woman 2
- Sharon Azrieli as Dina
Production
In March, 2021, the Ukrainian press announced plans to film Shttl, a co-production between Ukrainian, French and Belgian producers, with the support of the Ukrainian State Film Agency.{{Cite web |date=2021-03-11 |title=В Україні готуються знімати фільм "Шттл" в копродукції з Францією і Бельгією |url=https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-culture/3206506-v-ukraini-gotuutsa-znimati-film-sttl-v-koprodukcii-z-francieu-i-belgieu.html |access-date=2023-08-16 |website=www.ukrinform.ua |language=uk}}
Production designer Ivan Levchenko and art director Iuliia Antykova constructed a village 60 kilometers from Kyiv. The crew built 25 buildings, including one of the largest hand-painted synagogues in the world, and collected historical artifacts from all over Ukraine to fill the sets.
Cinematographer Volodymyr Ivanov filmed a series of long shots, which were then edited by Jérémie Bole du Chaumont to have the appearance of one continuous shot. Most of the film was shot in black-and-white, with flashbacks done in color.
On September 1, 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that principal photography on the film had wrapped.{{cite web|last=Tartaglione|first=Nancy|title='SHTTL': Single-Shot Shoah Feature With Saul Rubinek Wraps In Ukraine; Sets To Be Maintained As Open-Air Museum|date=September 1, 2021|website=Deadline Hollywood|url=https://deadline.com/2021/09/shttl-film-shoah-saul-rubinek-museum-ukraine-1234824978/|accessdate=July 6, 2023}} The set was to be turned into a museum, but now remains inaccessible due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Music
{{Album infobox soundtrack
| name = SHTTL (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
| type = soundtrack
| artist = David Federmann
| cover = SHTTL soundtrack cover.webp
| released = December 13, 2023
| genre = film score, classical, jazz, klezmer, nusach
| length = 69 minutes
| misc =
}}
The film's score was composed and conducted by David Federmann, combining elements of jazz, classical and klezmer with modern cinematic music. The soundtrack also features traditional Yiddish songs, as well as Sabbath prayer in Hebrew and Aramaic.{{Cite web |title=DAVID FEDERMANN {{!}} SHTTL |url=https://www.davidfedermann.com/shttl |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=David Federmann |language=fr}}
The music was recorded in Paris, Kyiv, Brussels and Montreal, with over 20 musicians, as well as Ukrainian and French choirs.
Release
Shttl premiered October 16, 2022 at the London Film Festival, and won the Audience Award one week later at the Rome Film Festival. The American premiere was at the New York Jewish Film Festival on January 16, 2023.{{cite web|last=Baxter|first=Velvl|title=Yiddish film offers authentic recreation of shtetl life before it was destroyed|date=January 10, 2023|website=The Forward|url=https://forward.com/forverts-in-english/531274/yiddish-film-offers-authentic-recreation-of-shtetl-life-before-it-was-destroyed/|accessdate=July 6, 2023}}
The film was released in cinemas in Ukraine on October 26, 2023.{{Cite web |title=В Україні 26 жовтня вийде у прокат стрічка SHTTL/ШТТЛ |url=https://espreso.tv/stala-vidoma-data-premeri-franko-ukrainskoi-strichki-shttl-shttl-v-kinoteatrakh-ukraini |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=espreso.tv |language=uk}}
It opened in France on December 13, 2023,{{Cite web |title=Urban Distribution |url=https://www.urbandistribution.fr/films/shttl/ |access-date=2023-09-18 |language=fr-FR}} where it continued its theatrical run for fourteen consecutive weeks.{{Citation |last=AlloCine |title=Séances SHTTL |url=https://www.allocine.fr/seance/film-314887/ |access-date=2024-01-15 |language=fr}}
Reception
= Critical response =
Barry Levitt of /Film rated the film a 10 out of 10, calling it "a towering, single-take masterpiece of the lives we've lost."
Joshua Polanski of Boston Hassle gave the film a positive review and wrote, "It’s a fascinating film worth checking out, and I doubt there is another film with quite the same chutzpah."{{cite web|last=Polanski|first=Joshua|title=REVIEW: SHTTL (2022) DIR. ADY WALTER|date=May 12, 2023|website=Boston Hassle|url=https://bostonhassle.com/review-shttl-2022-dir-ady-walter/|accessdate=July 6, 2023}}
International critics received the film with enthusiasm, calling Shttl "a hypnotic masterpiece from an exciting new voice."{{cite web |last1=Itkonen |first1=Joonatan |title=LFF 2022 Review: SHTTL |url=https://toisto.net/2022/10/14/lff-2022-review-shttl/ |website=Tosto.net}}
= Festivals and accolades =
| class="wikitable"
|+Partial list of international film festivals and awards for Shttl !Year !Country !Festival !Awards !ref. |
| rowspan="2" |2022
|United Kingdom | |
| Italy
|{{Won|Winner}}: Audience Award |
| rowspan="15" |2023
|United States |New York Jewish Film Festival | |
| France
|Festival Diasporama |{{Won|Winner}}: Audience Award |
| United States
|{{Won|Jury Prize}}: Emerging Filmmaker |
| United States
|Cleveland International Film Festival |{{Won|Jury Prize}}: Honorable Mention |
| Canada
| |
| China
|Shanghai International Film Festival | |
| Germany
|{{Won|Jury Prize}}: Best Feature Film |
| Italy
| |
| Ukraine
|Odesa International Film Festival | |
| Slovakia
|International Film Festival Cinematik | |
| Poland
| |
| Australia
|Jewish International Film Festival |{{Won|Winner}}: Audience Award |
| United States
|Centre Film Festival |{{Won|Jury Prize}}: Gratitude Award |
| Hong Kong
|Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival |{{Won|Winner}}: Best First Feature |
| Poland
| |
| rowspan="3" |2024
|Croatia | |
| rowspan="2" |Ukraine
| rowspan="2" |Ukrainian Academy Award |{{Nom}}: Best Cinematography |
| {{Nom}}: Best Production Design |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|15289502}}
- {{Rotten Tomatoes|shttl}}
Category:Yiddish-language films
Category:Ukrainian-language films
Category:Films about Jews and Judaism
Category:French war drama films
Category:Ukrainian historical drama films
Category:Ukrainian war drama films
Category:Ukrainian World War II films
Category:Ukrainian black-and-white films
Category:French black-and-white films
Category:Films shot in Ukraine
Category:2020s historical drama films
Category:French World War II films