TROJAN JAZZ: Documentary Premiere + Q&A with Director and Producer

Join us for the US Premiere of a documentary about the ground-breaking 1962 tour of the Soviet Union made by Benny Goodman's orchestra. Introduction by Benny Goodman's only student, Ukrainian-born clarinetist Julian Milkis, and Q&A with the film's Director and Producer, Olga and Gregory Antimony.

Supported by the State Department's US Information Agency, this 5 week, 6 city tour was the first appearance by an American jazz group. in the USSR, and occurred at an extremely sensitive time - between the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. It helped kick off a wave of bi-directional cultural exchanges betwee the US and USSR that featured ballet, classical and jazz performers from both sides of the Iron Curtain. For Soviet citizens alive in 1962, the tour was not only an opportunity to hear live jazz performance (which was frowned upon by the Soviet authorities), but also a unique chance to see and meet the real Americans.

Trojan Jazz features new interviews with Americans who were on the tour or made it possible (such as legendary jazz producer George Avakian and bassist Bill Crow) as well as a wide range of Russian and Ukrainian musicians and cultural figures whose lives were transformed by the tour. It also includes rare archival footage of Benny in the USSR.

This event is FREE. However, pre-registration is required.

Schedule:

7:00 pm Doors open for seating

7:30 pm Introduction by clarinetist Julian Milkis (pictured below, interviewing George Avakian)

7:35 pm Screening

8:50 pm Q&A with Director Olga Antimony and Producer Gregory Antimony

Director OLGA ANTIMONY, graduated from the Moscow State University, department of journalism. Also a Graduate of Moscow High Courses of Script Writers and Directors. In 2005, her first film «Chernobyl 2» was recognized as the best short film on the documentary film festival «Russia» in Yekaterinburg. She successfully worked on the NTV and Culture channels in Moscow, and in 2011 she moved to Canada. She works as a documentary film director at ECG Production. Over the years, she has made many successful documentary projects that have been awarded at film festivals in Canada, USA, France, Ukraine, Japan and other countries.

Producer GREGORY ANTIMONY graduated from the First Moscow Medical Institute, was engaged in experimental neurophysiology, and has a PHD in that science. For 10 years he was a "refusenik", and emigrated only in 1991 in Boston. In 1994, he founded the Wostok Entertainment company, which produced the programs "New York, New York", "Club of Lonely Hearts" and others. In 2004, together with 2 partners, he founded several companies in Toronto. One of which is ECG Production, which produces documentaries in different languages. Gregory is the director of this company and the producer of many documentary projects.

CONGREGATION KEHILLATH ISRAEL is a traditional inclusive synagogue that actively embraces individuals, its community, and the world. An innovative and prominent voice in North American Jewish life since 1917, it is one of Brookline's oldest synagogues.

BALLETS RUSSES ARTS INITIATIVE is a non-profit organization that fosters international creative exchange in the visual and performing arts and film, with a special focus on the post-Soviet States. BRAI carries out public programs throughout Massachusetts, the East Coast and internationally.