Isa: The People's Diva

Forgotten for nearly half a century, the charismatic Jewish diva Isa Kremer is celebrated in this hour-long documentary that chronicles her rather remarkable life and career. Raised in a shtetl in the Russian Pale, Kremer's rise to international stardom dovetailed with the political turbulence of the first half of the 20th century, from her discovery as a teenage revolutionary poet in her native Russia to her legendary refusal to remove Yiddish songs from a Nazi-era repertoire in Berlin, not to mention her rescue of no less than two prominent leftist husbands from jail. Beautiful, courageous, intelligent, Kremer was feted by princes, sultans and czars and could boast of friendships with Albert Einstein and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Her political beliefs inspired Kremer to switch from opera to folk music, to which she devoted the rest of her career, learning songs in 24 languages and becoming the first woman to bring Yiddish traditional songs to the concert stage. Combining archival photographs and interviews with Kremer's daughter, political scientists, and historians, this fascinating portrait is definitely recommended. Aud: C, P. (A. Cantú)