Music is a calling, divine or otherwise. For some, the calling is entirely secular; for others, it is profoundly spiritual, but for all the young musicians featured in Wendla Nölle’s documentary “The Chosen Ones” their Jewish background plays an important role.

Musician and filmmaker Wendla Nölle travels to Manhattan in search of the face of young Jewish music and introduces us to New York’s new generation of Jewish musicians. Among the artists profiled is an Orthodox convert who can rap in four different languages, weaving them into a musical study of Talmudic teachings; Israelis, combining the music of their ancestors with modern sounds, proclaiming peace for the Middle East; a young blues musician who sings almost forgotten cantorial chants against African beats; a pop music group that combines a funk sound with Jewish spirituality and Hebrew lyrics; and an Orthodox rabbi who has found a home in the Lower East Side's indie music scene with funny, quirky songs that often deal with weighty subjects such as the Israel-Palestine conflict.


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