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You will Not Play Wagner - Film presented at Sarasota Jewish Film Festival

Moved Online22mar9:00 amYou will Not Play Wagner - Film presented at Sarasota Jewish Film FestivalTemple Imanu, 151 Mcintosh Rd., Sarasota9:00 am VIRTUAL EVENTACTIVE FOR 72 HoursAreaSarasotaTypeFestival,Film,Fundraising EventCostVirtual Pass - All 14 Films $180.00, This event- $15

Event Details

In 1850, the composer and occasional philosopher Richard Wagner published the antisemitic essay “Jewishness in Music.” The screed is infamous for its assertion that Jews were responsible for everything that had gone wrong in art and society. In that essay, Wagner further attacked the Jewish composer Felix Mendelssohn. He asserted that Mendelssohn “has shown us that a Jew can have the richest abundance of talents and be a man of the broadest culture but still be incapable of supplying the profound, heart-seizing, soul-searching experience we expect from art.”

The essay also launched Wagner into the public‘s consciousness as a virulent antisemite, where he remains firmly lodged. Despite his artistic genius, Wagner is reviled in most, if not all, Jewish spaces. In Israel, live performances of his music are unofficially banned. Over the years, the ban has acquired the gravity of law in the same way Jewish tradition adheres to the observance of a long-time custom as if it were law.

You Will Not Play Wagner,” a short one-act play that has been adapted as a film, doubles as the sternest of commands. The time is the current day, and the settings are Lenox, Massachusetts, New York, and Tel Aviv. Esther, a Holocaust survivor and wealthy patron of the arts, is the benefactor of an annual competition to name the best living conductor in the world. Yakov, a young, exceptionally talented Israeli, is favored to win the competition until he decides to conduct a piece by Wagner for his final presentation.

In a recent conversation with JewishBoston, Lilia Levitina, the film’s director, described the film as “venturing into the very brave territory, and hard questions of Jewish identity.” Levitina is forthright about her neutral position on the question of whether Wagner’s music should be performed live in Israel. Neither does the original play deliver any pronouncements, something Levitina admires about the late Victor Gordon’s script. Gordon died in 2021 of COVID-19.

For Levitina, Gordon’s play grapples with going beyond an artist’s biography and only considering the work. “Do we negate the work of artists who were awful people and abusers?” she asked. “One of the things that I love about the play is that it doesn’t give you a definite answer—it doesn’t take sides. It simply poses a question for the audience to think about.”

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Time

(Wednesday) 9:00 am

Location

Temple Imanu, 151 Mcintosh Rd., Sarasota

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Organizer

Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee

The Federation focuses its attention on three areas: 1) Preserving the Jewish heritage through cultural, educational and social programming. 2) Providing help for those in need by bringing sustenance, shelter, help and empowerment to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of the community. 3) Protecting the people of Israel and countries around the world by connecting our local community with Jews worldwide and funding human service and educational programs in 60+ countries. Our Facebook Page Policy: Our Facebook page is a place to communicate on topics related to our organization and community. It is our home on Facebook, and while we value an open exchange of ideas, we do maintain a few guidelines to make sure that we are able to assist people with questions and issues quickly and efficiently. We reserve the right to delete or mark as spam any and all comments that are not topical, are abusive, or repetitive. We also have the right to block access to any one from posting to this Facebook Page. Specifically: • While this is an open forum, it’s also a family friendly one, so please keep your comments and wall posts clean and respectful. In addition to keeping it family friendly, we ask that you follow our posting guidelines here. If you don’t comply, your message will be removed. • We will not allow personal attacks or vulgar, abusive, offensive, threatening or harassing images and/or language. This includes creative spellings of swear words using asterisks or spaces between words. • We will not allow comments that promote, foster or perpetuate discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation. • We will not allow comments that contain sexual content or links to sexual content. • We will not allow comments that promote or advertise a person or a business or commercial transaction. • We will not allow the same content to be posted multiple times. Any subsequent posting of substantially identical information will be deleted, and the person posting it may be banned. • We will not allow comments that promote or oppose any political cause, advocacy, or campaign. This is a business page, and any such posts will be deleted, and the person posting it may be banned. • We will not allow comments or posts that disclose personal information. • You participate at your own risk, taking personal responsibility for your comments, your username and any information provided. Opinions expressed in public comments do not necessarily reflect official positions of the organization. Any information posted here is considered public information and may be subject to monitoring, moderation or disclosure to third parties.

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Cost

Virtual Pass – All 14 Films $180.00, This event- $15

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