ITZHAK

2019 Grammy Award for Best Music Film Nominee

From Schubert to Strauss, Bach to Brahms, Mozart to…Billy Joel, Itzhak Perlman’s violin playing transcends mere performance to evoke the celebrations and struggles of real life; “praying with the violin,” says renowned Tel Aviv violinmaker Amnon Weinstein. Alison Chernick’s enchanting documentary looks beyond the sublime musician, to see the polio survivor whose parents emigrated from Poland to Israel, the young man who struggled to be taken seriously as a music student when schools saw only his disability. As charming and entrancing as the famous violinist himself, ITZHAK is a portrait of musical virtuosity seamlessly enclosed in warmth, humor, and above all, love.

DIRECTED BYAlison Chernick

EDITED BYHelen Yum

CASTItzhak Perlman
Toby Perlman
Billy Joel
Alan Alda
Evgeny Kissin
Mischa Maisky
Martha Argerich