The National Film Board of Canada has announced that "SoCalled", a feature-length documentary film about klezmer hip-hop artist Josh Dolgin aka Socalled will have its premiere on YouTube starting March 16 during the South By Southwest festival.

The Canadian musician is known for his eclectic mix of hip hop and klezmer, a musical tradition which originated in the Jewish villages of Eastern Europe.

The movie shows SoCalled introducing funk trombone legend Fred Wesley (of James Brown fame) to klezmer music, while wowing Wesley with his knowledge of funk. When Dolgin comes across LPs from the 1950s by lounge pianist Irving Fields, he looks up 94-year-old Fields and inspires him to pen a new hit song.

Shot in Socalled’s Montreal neighbourhood where Hasidic Jews and hipsters crowd the sidewalks, and in New York, France and the Ukraine, The “Socalled” Movie also explores Socalled’s creative partnerships with singer Katie Moore; renowned klezmer clarinettist David Krakauer; filmmaker Benjamin Steiger Levine, who directed Socalled’s video You are Never Alone); and cello virtuoso Matt Haimovitz.

The “Socalled” Movie is a co-production between reFrame Films and the NFB and will be available for rent here . The film will be in Canadian theatres this spring.

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