Strange Fruit
A new film

Film Forum
November 6 - 19, 2002
209 W. Houston St. (W. of 6th Ave.),
NYC 1:00, 3:15, 7:50, 10:00 PM

SOUTHERN TREES BEAR A STRANGE FRUIT
BLOOD ON THE LEAVES AND BLOOD AT THE ROOT
These are the opening words to one of the world's most famous protest songs. Best known by a 1939 Billie Holiday rendition, the song "Strange Fruit" paints a bitter and harrowing portrayal of a lynching. A song unique in the annals of American music, "Strange Fruit" became a staple in Billie Holiday's career. Its lyrics were read on the floor of Congress during ultimately unsuccessful efforts to pass Federal anti-lynching legislation, and it has been recorded by dozens of artists since it was written in the mid-1930's. Yet relatively few people know it was written by a Jewish school teacher from the Bronx.

While many people assume that "Strange Fruit" was written by Holiday herself, the words and music were actually written by Abel Meeropol, a New York City public school teacher and a Jew of Russian immigrant origin who published music under the name Lewis Allan. Meeropol's other best known composition was "The House I Live In", most famously performed by Frank Sinatra. The tale of the song "Strange Fruit" reflects on the lives of African-Americans, immigrant Jews, anticommunist government officials, radical Leftist organizers, music publishers and jazz musicians. It is a telling anecdote in the history of Black/Jewish relations, a story which includes episodes of poverty, prejudice, and lynching as well as of poetry, music, and artistic expression. The film STRANGE FRUIT tells a dramatic story of the American past using this song as its epicenter, challenging the notion that Blacks and Jews have nothing in common as allies. The film's original score is by composer Don Byron.

With: BILLIE HOLIDAY, AMIRI BARAKA, ABBEY LINCOLN, PETE SEEGER, DON BYRON, CASSANDRA WILSON, C.T. VIVIAN and ROBBY & MICHAEL MEEROPOL.

A STUDENT DISCOUNT rate of $5 per person (for groups of 10 or more) is offered for the 1:00 and 3:15 shows. Advance reservations are necessary and can be made through Alice Mateychak at 212-627-2035, x211.