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This is a third party event organized by the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. The content of this screening/event is the sole responsibility of the organizer.
Much is known about Woody Gurthrie--the iconic folksinger who wrote “This Land is Your Land,” and influenced Bob Dylan (as seen in the recent film A Complete Unknown). Less known is the role that Jewish culture and tradition had a hand in shaping his private life and career. In this delightful and eye-opening documentary, filmmaker Steven Pressman (The Levi’s of Monticello, TJFF2020) explores Guthrie’s second marriage to Marjorie Greenblatt in New York, and his moving relationship with his his mother-in-law, prominent Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt, and the impact she had on his songwriting. Using revealing interviews--including children Arlo and Nora Gurthie--and rich archival footage and audio recordings, Dust Bowls and Jewish Souls meticulously links the story of American Yiddish creativity with Guthrie’s art as rooted in the Oklahoma Dust Bowl of the 1930s.