New original score of 1924 fictional silent film 'The City Without Jews' presented live at Emory

November 13th, 2023

“A City Without Jews,” the 1924 film by H. K. Breslauer, imagines a fictional Austrian town that expels its Jewish population, doing itself a great injury in the process. (Courtesy of Dog Ranch Music PR)

A treasure of Jewish cinema thought to be forever lost was rediscovered and restored in 2015. “The City Without Jews,” the 1924 film by H. K. Breslauer, imagines a fictional Austrian town that expels its Jewish population, doing itself a great injury in the process.

The film was revitalized with a new original score by co-composer and Klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals with pianist and co-composer Donald Sosin. They will perform the score live alongside a screening of “The City Without Jews” at the Emory Performing Arts Studio, a free event on Nov. 15 at 7 pm.

In this interview, Sosin and Svigals join “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes to talk more about their collaboration and the upcoming performance.

“The film is eerily prescient, chillingly prescient because the filmmakers had no idea just how far this would go,” Svigals says.

The 1924 silent film “The City Without Jews” will be screened alongside a live performance by the composers Klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals and pianist Donald Sosin at Emory Performing Arts Center this Wednesday. More information is available here.