Riddle Films’ Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas garners International Emmy nomination and Czech Crystal documentary win as PBS stations on board for upcoming holiday season
October 1, 2018 - Christmas has come early for Riddle Films, which is good news for fans of their beloved documentary, Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas.
Riddle Films’ musical documentary Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas won the coveted Czech Crystal for Best Documentary Program dedicated to music, dance and theatre from the Golden Prague Television Festival on September 22nd. Now in its 55th year, Golden Prague is one of the most prestigious festivals in the world, celebrating the best in arts programming on television. The last Canadian production to win an award at the festival was Rhombus Media’s Burnt Toast in 2006, directed by Larry Weinstein.
On September 27th the award-winning Canadian production company was also honoured with an International Emmy nomination, from the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, for Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas, in the best arts program category, where they will compete against films from Australia, Netherlands and Brazil.
Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas recently secured global sales to 19 PBS stations where it will be broadcast during this year’s holiday season. The film will be broadcast in the following US outlets:
Georgia Public Television (state wide)
Idaho Public Television
KCPT, Kansas City MO
KETC, 9 Network St. Louis MO
KLRU, Austin TX
KPBS, San Diego CA
KTWU, Topeka KS
KUAT, Tucson AZ
KUEN, Salt Lake City UT
KVIE, Sacramento CA
Maryland Public Television
Montana Public Television
WCET, Cincinnati OH
WCNY, Syracuse NY
WLRN, Miami FL
WOSU, Columbus OH
WPSU, College Park PA
WTIU, Bloomington IN
WTTW, Chicago
Directed by Larry Weinstein (Inside Hana’s Suitcase, Leslie Caron: The Reluctant Star) and produced by Riddle Films’ Liam Romalis and Jason Charters (The Group of Seven Guitars, Leon Redbone: Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone) Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas tells the story of Irving Berlin, Mel Tormé, Gloria Shayne Baker and the many Jewish composers who wrote some of the best-loved Christmas songs of all time.
Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas premiered in Canada on CBC and the documentary Channel in December 2017, and will be rebroadcast this holiday season on CBC on Sunday Dec 2nd at 2 pm and on the documentary Channel on December 24th at 9 pm ET/PT.
The film features performances by Tom Wilson, Steven Page, Dione Taylor, David Wall and the Lemon Bucket Orkestra among many others. Interviews include writer and radio host Ophira Eisenberg (NPR’s Ask Me Another), Grammy Award-winning musicologist Rob Bowman, Yuk-Yuk’s Mark Breslin, writer, jazz musician and producer Ben Sidran (The Steve Miller Band, There Was a Fire: Jews, Music and the American Dream), composer Rob Kapilow (What Makes It Great), music journalist Robert Harris (20 Pieces of Music That Changed the World) and many more.
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In other news, after a successful run at the McMichael Gallery in Toronto, The Group of Seven Guitar Project is now showing at Canada House in London, England until November 10, 2018. And rounding out a London double-bill, Riddle Films’ short film Leon Redbone: Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone premiered September 30th at the Raindance Film Festival.
About Riddle Films
Riddle Films is an award-winning company dedicated to capturing the world of the performing arts and culture and making it accessible to as broad an audience as possible. Helmed by producers Jason Charters and Liam Romalis, their work has aired on television screens, online and at film festivals around the world, including CBC, Bravo, NDR/ARTE, PBS, YLE, VisionTV, Canal+, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the Rotterdam International Film Festival, and New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
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For more info and to set up interviews, contact GAT PR:
Ingrid Hamilton
[email protected]
416-731-3034