FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Film Documentary Gets U.S. Distribution

A new documentary surrounding the making of Norman Jewison's Fiddler on the Roof film has set a U.S. distribution from Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber. It is slated to be released in spring of 2022.

Deadline reports that the documentary is titled "Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen" and will be narrated by Jeff Goldlbum. The film follows Jewison's mission to recreate the lost world of Jewish life in Tsarist Russia and bringing the beloved stage production to the big screen.

Directed by Daniel Raim, the film features behind-the-scenes footage and never-before-seen stills as well as new interviews with Jewison, Chaim Topol (Tevye), composer John Williams, lyricist Sheldon Harnick, Rosalind Harris (Tzeitel), Michele Marsh (Hodel), Neva Small (Chava), production designer Robert F. Boyle, and film critic Kenneth Turan.

The musical was originally directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins and it features music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and book by Joseph Stein. Fiddler On The Roof won nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score of a Musical, Best Director and Best Choreographer.

In 2020, it was announced that a new film adaptation was in the works with Thomas Kail directing and Steven Levenson adapting the script.

The Oscar-winning film of the Broadway musical, starring Chaim Topel, centers around a Jewish community in a pre-revolutionary Russian village. Tevye, a poor milkman, is determined to find good husbands for his five daughters. Throughout the film, he consults the traditional matchmaker and also has a word with God.