“Bashevis, A Love Story” – a feature hybrid documentary 
2 min. trailer:
The idea of this feature hybrid doc about the Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer is based on the meetings and interviews with characters of I.B. Singer’s books intertwined with the real witnesses, commentators of his life – Paul Mazursky (Hollywood Director of “Enemies, A Love Story”), Prof. Janet Hadda (psychologist, Singer’s biographer), Israel Zamir (his son in Israel), Prof. Richard Burgin (author of the book about I.B. Singer), Dvorah Menashe (his last secretary and translator) and local witnesses in Poland. The books’ characters such as Yasha Mazur, Dybbuk, Pinchas Menachem and others, are acted by actors, and they talk about the writer through filtered stories described by him in his books.
The film uses archival film materials shot for the “Bashevis” project by Daniel Strehlau in 1996 – 1998 and 2000 – 2001.
In addition, there was an uncompromising urgency to interview immediately the witnesses to the life of I.B. Singer and the witnesses to the Yiddish civilization in Poland who had passed away shortly after giving interviews to Strehlau for his documentary, so the production and budget were met accordingly to the urgent documentation. The last scene was shot in 2011 and since the 85 min. draft was edited in 2013 the project is intact.
15 min. sizzle:
Despite great interest from diverse sources in the hybrid feature documentary Bashevis, A Love Story, based on the life of Isaac Bashevis Singer, the film remains unfinished. Production was initiated in 2008 with an 18% grant of the film’s total budget from the Polish Film Institute (PFI) which was only partially fulfilled, and a 16% investment from the film’s producer & director, Daniel Strehlau. The financial report of the PFI subsidy was accepted by the PFI accountant. The result of the budget shortfall was that production of Bashevis, A Love Story was halted in 2011. The current status of the film is an 85-minute draft. The production staff and fans of Bashevis Singer worldwide are hopeful that investors will be found to finish this film about a remarkable storyteller and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Director
Daniel Strehlau
Writer
Daniel Strehlau
Producer
Daniel Strehlau
Cast
Halina Bednarz – Jewish Medicine – Woman
Richard W. Burgin – Self (as Richard Burgin Sr.)
Monika Chrzastowska – Ester
Andrzej Chyra – Yasha Mazur
Rafal Dajbor – Chassid 2
Karolina Gorczyca – Zosia
Adrianna Gruszka – Emilia
Janet Hadda – Self
Irvin Kershner – Self
Ryszard Kluge – Chassid 1
Paul Mazursky – Self
Amram Nowak – Self
Janusz Rafal Nowicki – Menachem Pinkas
Martyna Peszko – Magda
Barbara Prokopowicz – Dybbuk
Joanna Sawicka – Halina
Isaac Bashevis Singer – self (archive footage)
Dvorah Menashe Telushkin – Self (archive footage)
Marcin Tyrol – writer I.B. Singer
Mieczyslaw Wiecha – Self
Wojciech Wilinski – Rabbi Exorcist
Israel Zamir- Self
Cinematographers
Pawel Gula
Maciej Lisiecki
Guy Livneh
Tomasz Magierski
Daniel J. Strehlau
Michal Szewczuk
Tal Unreich
Elad Winkler
Editor
Daniel J. Strehlau
Production Management
Alex Albers – unit manager
Daniel J. Strehlau – production manager
Sound Department
Jacek Bak – sound recordist
Bartlomiej Wozniak – sound editor
Editorial Department
Szymon Karpinski – on-line editor
Yoav Yerushalmi – on-line editor
Music Department
Daniel J. Strehlau – music editor