Shttl

Shttl (Yiddish: שטטל, Ukrainian: Шттл) is a 2022 Ukrainian–French war drama film written and directed by Ady Walter and starring Moshe Lobel and Saul Rubinek.[1][2][3] The film depicts the lives of a Jewish shtetl on the eve of Operation Barbarossa. It was filmed in Ukraine six months before the 2022 Russian invasion.[4]

Shttl
Film poster
Directed byAdy Walter
Written byAdy Walter
Samuel Fischler
Produced byJean-Charles Lévy
Yuriy Artemenko
Ryta Grebenchikova
Olias Barco
StarringMoshe Lobel
Saul Rubinek
Anisia Stasevich
Petro Ninovskyi
Antoine Millet
CinematographyVolodymyr Ivanov
Edited byJérémie Bole du Chaumont
Music byDavid Federmann
Production
company
Ukrainian Producers Hub
Apple Tree Vision
Forecast Pictures
Release dates
October 13, 2022 (BFI)
October 26, 2023 (Ukraine)
Running time
114 minutes
CountriesUkraine
France
LanguagesYiddish
Ukrainian

Shttl premiered at the 2022 London Film Festival,[5][6] and won the Audience Award one week later at the Rome Film Festival.[7]

The missing 'e' in the title (normally spelled "shtetl") is a reference to Georges Perec's La disparition, a 1969 novel which doesn't contain the letter. According to Walter, its absence represents the void left behind in the Shoah; Perec's father died in the war, and his mother was killed in Auschwitz.[8]

On September 8, 2023, it was announced that Shttl is on the shortlist to represent Ukraine for the 96th Academy Awards.[9]

Plot

Mendele, an aspiring filmmaker, has left his Hasidic community and joined the Red Army. On June 21, 1941, he returns to his shtetl in Western Ukraine, along with his Ukrainian best friend, Demyan. They plan to run away with the Rebbe's daughter, Yuna. However, she is already set to marry Folie, a zealous Hasid hoping to succeed the Rebbe as leader of the shtetl.

The Soviet Union has already been infiltrating the shtetl, indoctrinating the community with Soviet propaganda, and threatening the Jewish way of life. The conflict of contemporary ideologies is inflamed by Mendele's presence, as he speaks with old friends and intervenes in local matters.

Meanwhile, just across the border with Poland, Nazi Germany is preparing for their imminent invasion of the Soviet Union.

Cast
  • Moshe Lobel as Mendele
  • Anisia Stasevich as Yuna
  • Petro Ninovskyi as Demyan
  • Saul Rubinek as Rebbe Weitsenzang
  • Antoine Millet as Folie
  • Daniel Kenigsberg as Shloime
  • Emily Karpel as Beilke

Production

In March, 2021, the Ukrainian press announced plans to film Shttl, a co-production between Ukrainian, French and Belgian producers, with the support of the Ukrainian State Film Agency.[10]

Production designer Ivan Levchenko and art director Iuliia Antykova constructed a village 60 kilometers from Kyiv. The crew built 25 buildings, including one of the largest hand-painted synagogues in the world, and collected historical artifacts from all over Ukraine to fill the sets.[4]

Cinematographer Volodymyr Ivanov filmed a series of long shots, which were then edited by Jérémie Bole du Chaumont to have the appearance of one continuous shot. Most the film was shot in black-and-white, with flashbacks done in color.[5]

On September 1, 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that principal photography on the film had wrapped.[4] The set was to be turned into a museum, but now remains inaccessible due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[8]

Release

Shttl premiered October 16, 2022 at the London Film Festival,[5][6] and won the Audience Award one week later at the Rome Film Festival. The American premiere was at the New York Jewish Film Festival on January 16, 2023.[11][8]

The film is scheduled to be released in cinemas in Ukraine on October 26, 2023,[12] in France on December 13, 2023,[13] and in Italy on January 18, 2024.[14]

Reception

Critical Response

Barry Levitt of /Film rated the film a 10 out of 10, calling it "a towering, single-take masterpiece of the lives we've lost."[5]

Joshua Polanski of Boston Hassle gave the film a positive review and wrote, "It’s a fascinating film worth checking out, and I doubt there is another film with quite the same chutzpah."[15]

Festivals and accolades
Partial list of international film festivals and awards for Shttl
Year Country Festival Awards ref.
2022 United Kingdom BFI London Film Festival [6]
Italy Rome Film Festival Winner: Audience Award [7]
2023 United States New York Jewish Film Festival [8]
France Festival Diasporama Winner: Audience Award [16]
United States Atlanta Jewish Film Festival Jury Prize: Emerging Filmmaker [17]
United States Cleveland International Film Festival Jury Prize: Honorable Mention [18]
Canada Toronto Jewish Film Festival [19]
China Shanghai International Film Festival [20]
Germany Berlin Jewish Film Festival Jury Prize: Best Feature Film [21]
Italy Taormina Film Fest [22]
Ukraine Odesa International Film Festival [23]
Slovakia International Film Festival Cinematik [24]

References
  1. Kirshner, Sheldon (January 11, 2023). "Shttl Resurrects A Vanished World". The Times of Israel. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  2. Liphshiz, Cnaaan (August 11, 2021). "Filmmakers constructed an acre-sized shtetl for a Ukrainian WWII film. Now they want to preserve it as a museum". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  3. Lipshiz, Cnaan (August 11, 2021). "Acre-sized shtetl for Ukrainian WWII film to become a museum". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  4. Tartaglione, Nancy (September 1, 2021). "'SHTTL': Single-Shot Shoah Feature With Saul Rubinek Wraps In Ukraine; Sets To Be Maintained As Open-Air Museum". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  5. Levitt, Barry (2022-10-18). "SHTTL Review: A Towering, Single-Take Masterpiece Of The Lives We've Lost [London Film Festival]". /Film. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  6. "SHTTL". BFI London Film Festival 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  7. "Winners of the Rome Film Fest 2022 – Fondazione Cinema per Roma". Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  8. Wiseman, Andreas (2022-12-16). "Ukraine-Shot Shoah Feature 'Shttl' Boarded By Upgrade Productions". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  9. "Shortlist for Ukraine's Oscars submissions announced". The Kyiv Independent. 2023-09-07. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  10. "В Україні готуються знімати фільм «Шттл» в копродукції з Францією і Бельгією". www.ukrinform.ua (in Ukrainian). 2021-03-11. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  11. Baxter, Velvl (January 10, 2023). "Yiddish film offers authentic recreation of shtetl life before it was destroyed". The Forward. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  12. "В Україні 26 жовтня вийде у прокат стрічка SHTTL/ШТТЛ". espreso.tv (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  13. "Urban Distribution" (in French). Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  14. SHTTL (2022) | FilmTV.it (in Italian), 2024-01-18, retrieved 2023-09-18
  15. Polanski, Joshua (May 12, 2023). "REVIEW: SHTTL (2022) DIR. ADY WALTER". Boston Hassle. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  16. "[Festival Diasporama]... – FSJU – Centre d'Art et de Culture". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  17. "AJFF". ajff.org. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  18. "Awards & Competitions | CIFF 47". CIFF. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  19. "Better call Saul Rubinek, man of a hundred stories". The Globe and Mail. 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  20. "WORLD DEBUT". www.siff.com. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  21. K.d.ö.R, Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland (2023-06-16). "Preisregen beim Jüdischen Filmfest Berlin Brandenburg". Jüdische Allgemeine (in German). Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  22. DEON, BRYNN (2023-06-12). "Amber Heard Starring 'In the Fire' Will Premiere At The 69th Taormina Film Festival". Maxblizz. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  23. "Odessa Journal | Main". odessa-journal.com. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  24. Aktuality.sk (2023-08-14). "Víťazné filmy z festivalov v Cannes aj Karlových Varoch premietne Cinematik v slovenských premiérach". Aktuality.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2023-08-17.
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