PHACE . Nacho de Paz

"It's the Jews who are taking away our jobs", claim demonstrators in the feature film The City Without Jews. Irritatingly prophetic, it shows the escalating anti-Semitism of its time and the impoverishment of a city in all areas of life as a result of the expulsion of the Jewish population. As part of the Jewish Weekends of the Former Synagogue St. Pölten, the Festspielhaus, in cooperation with Tangente St. Pölten, is presenting Hans Karl Breslauer's silent film, which is now regarded worldwide as the first cinematic statement against anti-Semitism. Shot in Vienna in 1924, the film is based on the book of the same name by the Jewish writer and journalist Hugo Bettauer with the subtitle A novel of the day after tomorrow.
Long preserved only in a fragmentary version, the film was rediscovered and restored at a Paris flea market in 2015. Olga Neuwirth, one of the most internationally successful Austrian composers of the present day, was commissioned to score the film anew in 2017. Neuwirth's music will be interpreted live at the Festspielhaus by the Austrian ensemble PHACE, which regularly performs at the most important international concert halls and festivals with special concert formats, music theater productions and interdisciplinary projects.

PROGRAM

*Silent film by Hans Karl Breslauer (1924) based on a novel by Hugo Bettauer (1922) with live music by Olga Neuwirth