Yippee! A Journey to Jewish Joy

A Film

USA, 2006, 74 minutes

SELECTED FESTIVAL SCREENINGS

Montreal World Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival Atlanta Jewish Film Festival Lincoln Center, Vancouver Jewish Film Festival UK Jewish Film Festival Skirball Cultural Center, Jerusalem Cinematheque, Jerusalem

The National Center for Jewish Film Brandeis University, Lown 102, MS 053 Waltham, MA 02454-9110 Tel: (781) 899-7044 Fax: (781) 736-2070 [email protected] www.jewishfilm.org

Directed by award-winning American filmmaker, actor, and scriptwriter Paul Mazursky (Next Stop Greenwich Village, , Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Enemies: A Love Story), Yippee! chronicles the director’s whirlwind journey to Uman, a small Ukrainian town that is the site of a unique, annual gathering of Jewish men making pilgrimages to the burial place of Rabbi Nachman (1772-1810).

When Mazursky was told (by his optometrist) that 25,000—mostly Hassidic—Jews from around the world were expected to visit Uman for three days of praying, singing, and dancing, the director felt compelled to make the journey himself. Arriving in the Ukraine with a small film crew, Mazursky experiences an amazing series of events. He meets and interviews a wide variety of Jewish men from many countries, sharing meals, laughs, and this unique experience. The director visits the gravesite of Hassidic movement founder the Baal Shem Tov (Nachman's great-grandfather) and talks with Uman’s non-Jews about their reactions to the annual massive influx of Hassidim. The adventure culminates on the evening of Rosh Hashanah in a mass expression of spiritual ecstasy.

Yippee! is an infectious road movie filled with electricity and awe and Mazursky is a splendid guide, funny, curious, and generous. ______

“Brilliant documentary, beautifully told—and funny.” – Larry King

“Paul Mazursky delivers an enchanting world, funny, fascinating and surprisingly touching.” –

“A deeply moving film-powerful-and wonderfully funny. Yippee!” – Kirk Douglas ______

Mazursky (on right) with new friends in Uman YIPPEE - Credits

A Tecolote Production A Paul Mazursky Film YIPPEE Producer/Director: Paul Mazursky Producer: Milton Kim Co-Producers: Jeff Kanew / Bill Megalos / Steve Cody Director of Photography: Bill Megalos Second Camera: Steve Cody Editor: Jeff Kanew Original Music: Walter Werzowa Holy Devil” Performed by Sophie Solomon

PAUL MAZURSKY -- PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

Writer-director-actor-producer Paul Mazursky has created a body of work over the past 30 years that has established him as one of America's most respected filmmakers. His films are often personal, intimate and humorous observations of the human condition. Mazursky was born in the Brownsville section of in 1930. He started his performing in school, continuing at , where in his senior year, he landed the leading role of an off-Broadway production of He Who Gets Slapped. Shortly thereafter, he was cast in 's first film , and two years later in The . During this period, he appeared on TV and performed as a stand-up comic in Greenwich Village clubs.

In 1959, he moved to Los Angeles, where he joined the L.A. company of Second City. Increasingly, his focus shifted to writing for other comics, including Danny Kaye. In due course, he teamed up with like-minded humorist Larry Tucker and together they wrote the screenplays for three feature films: I LOVE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS, BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE, and . Mazursky made his directorial debut with BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE (1969); now considered a classic, the film opened the 1969 New York Film Festival and received an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay.

Mazursky followed BOB & CAROL with ALEX in WONDERLAND, starring Donald Sutherland; ; HARRY & TONTO, which garnered an Oscar nomination for best screenplay; and NEXT STOP, GREENWICH VILLAGE—all of which Mazursky directed and wrote (or co-wrote). 1978 saw the triumphant release of Mazursky's AN UNMARRIED WOMAN, which he directed, produced, and wrote. Star was named best actress at the and Mazursky was again nominated for an Academy Award for best screenplay.

In the early 1980s, Mazursky wrote and directed WILLIE AND PHIL; TEMPEST; and , which established Robin Williams as an actor of formidable range. In 1986 Mazursky directed (and wrote) the smash hit comedy DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS, starring , , and Nick Nolte. Mazursky's other films (as director and writer) include: ; ENEMIES: A LOVE STORY, which garnered three Oscar nominations and earned the New York Film Critics Award for best director; , starring and Bette Midler; and , with . Mazursky directed FAITHFUL, starring , and Ryan O'Neal; WINCHELL, an HBO movie with Stanly Tucci, Glenne Headly, and Paul Giamatti; and COAST TO COAST starring Richard Dreyfuss and Judy Davis.

Mazursky continues acting on both the small and big screen. More recently, he has appeared in the film Miami Rhapsody and on TV—in recurring roles—on , Once and Again, and .