Orchestra of Exiles

About The Film

The extraordinary backstory of the Israeli Philharmonic and the heroic feats of its founder, Polish virtuoso violinist Bronisław Huberman, are chronicled in ORCHESTRA OF EXILES.

As Hitler began forcing Jews out of the great European orchestras, Huberman recognized an opportunity. He scoured to find 70 of the best Jewish musician outcasts, wrangled with immigration authorities to move them and their families to Palestine, and assembled what would become the Palestine Orchestra that debuted in December 1936 under the baton of anti-Fascist Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini. Through Huberman’s efforts and vision, some 1,000 lives were saved from the oncoming Nazi menace, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was later born in 1948.

Directed by Oscar-nominated documentarian Josh Aronson (Sound and Fury), ORCHESTRA OF EXILES was filmed on location in Germany, Israel, the United States and England, and features historical reenactments as well as interviews with music icons Pinchas Zukerman, Zubin Mehta, Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell.