This year marks the 100th anniversary of the US theatrical release of The Golem: How He Came Into the World, an exquisite early horror film adaptation of the Jewish supernatural myth of a clay creature brought to life through occult means to protect a 16th century Prague ghetto. Now, Reboot—the Jewish arts and culture nonprofit with which I'm affiliated—has produced The Golem Rescored with a soundtrack from artists like Steve Drozd (The Flaming Lips), Alan Licht, Gretchen Gonzales Davidson, Rebecca Odes, Jeremiah Lockwood, Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), and more. Each of the eight free episodes include commentary and context from occult, Jewish, and technology scholars including Boing Boing pals Ken Goldberg (UC Berkeley) and Mitch Horowitz (Occult America).
My pal and Boing Boing contributor David Katznelson, the executive director of Reboot, orchestrated this Golem revival following last year's magnificent rescoring of Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1923). From Reboot:
The Golem, often referred as the Jewish Frankenstein, is a film that not only directly inspired many moments of the Boris Karloff Frankenstein film, but also helped create one of the most well known Jewish fables about the occult and about the dark shadows that hide some of the most profound Jewish ideas. The new series unpacks the themes, underlying meanings, and ideas found in this new presentation of The Golem and what it might have to say to us today.
Featuring new scores by: Threshing Floor (Alan Licht, Gretchen Gonzales Davidson, Rebecca Odes, John Olson, Nate Young) / Meg Baird, Charlie Saufley and Jeremiah Lockwood / Universal Eyes (members of Slumber Party and Wolf Eyes) / Michael Morley / Sharon Gal / Marika Hughes and Shahzad Ismaily / ∈Y∋ / Scott Amendola, Steven Drozd and Steve Berlin
Commentary from guests including: Kate Scelsa, Maya Barzilai, Ken Goldberg, Jeremiah Lockwood, Justin Sledge, Mitch Horowitz, Riva Lehrer and Ina Archer.
