Directed by Michal Goldman | Original release: 1987, Re-release: 2021 | United States | 75 minutes
This legendary film was the first to document the American revival of klezmer music. Originally released in 1987 and re-released in 2021, it explores what it means to be a second or third-generation American. As Henry Sapoznik says in the film, “I wanted to pass. I didn’t want to have parents who have accents.” But then, as the generation from the “old country” begins to pass on, he and his friends feel an urgent need to recapture their legacy and integrate it into their own way of being before it’s too late. Jumpin’ Night documents how young musicians do that through music – and in the process, make something new.
These young musicians… are after nothing less illusive than the spirit of a destroyed world.” - New York Times