March 9, 2pm - Seven Decades Strong: A Shmues with Mike Burstyn

 

The California Institute for Yiddish Culture & Language and the UJA Committee for Yiddish in Toronto Invite You to a Special Virtual Program

 

 

Seven Decades Strong: A Shmues with Yiddish Stage and Screen Actor and Director 

 

MIKE BURSTYN

 

Sunday, March 9, 2025

11:00 AM Pacific Time / 2:00 PM Eastern Time

 

Please CLICK HERE to register for this program.

 

The inimitable multi-talented, multi-lingual MIKE BURSTYN got his start in Yiddish theater at age 3 with his famous acting parents Lillian Lux and Pesach'ke Burstyn. In tandem with being on stage and in front of and behind the camera in a globe-spanning brilliant career, Mike Burstyn has always kept up his Yiddish performing chops and his passion for all things Yiddish. 

In a lively shmues (conversation) with CIYCL Director Miri Koral, Mike shares how he got his start and how the greatest Yiddish actors in the world became his mishpokhe (family). His anecdotes and photos will give us unprecedented insight into the rich unique world and personalities of post-War Yiddish theater in America, Israel, and Argentina. Mike is not only a vital link to preserving that history but he is also still very much involved in Yiddish stage and musical performance today.

*This program will be primarily in English*



 

For our friends in Ontario, the Toronto Jewish Film Festival is offering a fantastic opportunity to watch Mike Burstyn's 2024 series The Zweiflers this March!


The complete series of The Zweiflers will be available for streaming anywhere in Ontario on TJFF Virtual Cinema

March 9 - 23, 2025

 

Household tickets: $20 for all 6 episodes (taxes and fees included)

CLICK HERE to purchase tickets

 

Winner, Best Series Award at the Cannes International Series Festival.
Compared by critics to The Sopranos, The Zweiflers is the new much-lauded comic-drama series. The legendary Mike Burstyn (Two Kunilemel, Komediant, Juda) stars as Symcha Zweifler, a family patriarch and Holocaust survivor in contemporary Germany. As he prepares to sell his delicatessen empire, a secret from his past in Frankfurt’s red light district threatens to damage not only his own future but that of the four generations of his family. The Zweiflers stars an incredible ensemble cast that also includes Sunnyi Melles (Triangle of Sadness), Aaron Altaras (Unorthodox), Mark Ivanir (Schindler's List).