Local Spotlight: Dust Bowls and Jewish Souls: Another Side of Woody Guthrie

Local Spotlight
Director Steven Pressman expected to attend

Emerging from the scorched plains and migrant routes of Depression-era America, Woody Guthrie was one of the most influential folk singers of his generation, inspiring the likes of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Known for anthems like “This Land Is Your Land,” and with the slogan “This Machine Kills Fascists” defiantly emblazoned on his guitar, Guthrie journeyed from Oklahoma to Los Angeles to New York City. There, a transformative relationship with prominent Yiddish poet and future mother-in-law Aliza Greenblatt cultivated a whole other side of the artist, connecting him to Jewish history and culture. Guthrie, who once had zero knowledge of Hanukkah or Passover, now wrote songs about latkes, borscht, and the Holocaust. Drawing on a wealth of archival footage and invaluable insight from family, collaborators, and contemporaries, director Steven Pressman crafts a cross-cultural dialogue. Tracing a striking kinship between displaced American and Jewish refugees, Pressman unearths Guthrie’s evolution from Dust Bowl balladeer to a rebellious, world-class coalition-building artist. —Jesse Knight

US Premiere

JFI Supported: 2019 Filmmaker in Residence

Steven Pressman is a documentary filmmaker, author, and former journalist whose work explores overlooked stories in American and Jewish history. After a career in newspaper and magazine journalism, he turned to filmmaking, directing and producing the Emmy-nominated HBO documentary 50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus (2013). His subsequent films include Holy Silence (2020), The Levys of Monticello (2022), and Moses Ezekiel: Portrait of a Lost Artist (2024). Pressman is also the author of 50 Children and Outrageous Betrayal. He lives in San Francisco.