The Popovich Brothers of South Chicago (Video)

Folk Streams ^ | 1978 | Jill Godmilow

[Bokababe]

The one hour 1978 film is about an ethnic Serbian tamburitza band in South Chicago and the value of music to their families and children.

[Bokababe]

It's kind of neat to look back and see the old ones who got through their very hard jobs in the mills and mines by coming home to sing and dance, no matter how tired they were. The music made life bearable for them.

Congresswoman Helen Delich Bentley is in this film, and the "Bill Salatich" that they mention was then the President of Gilette Corporation, North America.

[Bokababe]

[MomwithHope]

Hey I grew up in South Chicago and our neighbor across the street was a Popovich. Of course a lot of people had names like that including me :))

[Silentgypsy]

I went w/a Croatian lady to folk dancing lessons provided by an urban parks department. Other than getting wrapped up in a curtain when I spun too fast, it was a lot of fun! (My husband still ribs me about that. Needless to say, he didn’t participate.) :)

[Bokababe]

Hey I grew up in South Chicago and our neighbor across the street was a Popovich. Of course a lot of people had names like that including me :))

Cool! One of the brothers in the film actually gives his address -- it was something "111 Ave E in South Chicago", I think.

[Bokababe]

That’s funny!

But don’t feel bad — I can’t count the number of times I’ve fallen on my rump when folk dancing, and I started doing it from the time I could walk and was considered a pretty good dancer.

[MomwithHope]

I grew up on 111th and Avenue M. My brother still lives in the house. I watched 15 minutes of the film last night but ws just too tired to stay up any longer. the church in the funeral was my Dad’s original church where he was baptized and grew up in before the new one was built.

[getoffmylawn]

So. Chicago ftw! This is my old neighborhood, and the Popovich Brothers were friends with my Grandpa. They even played at his house for Slava one year. My family went and screened this at The Art Institute in Chicago when it was first released. Lots of good memories here! :)

[getoffmylawn]

So. Chicago ftw! This is my old neighborhood, and the Popovich Brothers were friends with my Grandpa. They even played at his house for Slava one year. My family went and screened this at The Art Institute in Chicago when it was first released. Lots of good memories here! :)

[Bokababe]

Wow! Hey, it’s like we’re all related somehow through churches, relatives, films, friends. Now I understand why the old ones used talk the way that they did, always looking to find some link to each other.

[Bokababe]

So. Chicago ftw! This is my old neighborhood, and the Popovich Brothers were friends with my Grandpa. They even played at his house for Slava one year. My family went and screened this at The Art Institute in Chicago when it was first released. Lots of good memories here! :)

I was in California at the time, but this film reminded me of all the fun we used to have -- dancing and singing on a Saturday night until 5AM, then getting yourself together to make it to church to sing some more a few hours later.

It also reminds me how innocent and naive we were as a people, before the wars, the propaganda and the heartbreak. We were just happy little idiots with complete faith in America and in our heritage -- with no cleave whatever between the two.

There were several of these kinds of films on Serbs in America back then, "The Serbian Traditions" by Rasha Draskovitch and "Ziveli, Medicine for the Heart" by Les Blank. I knew most of the people in The Serbian Traditions -- they filmed the Midnight Easter Service at our parish -- and knew many of the people in Ziveli. Roger Ebert even gave Ziveli, a big thumbs up review!

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

I’ll have to run this by my wife to see if she recognizes anyone. Thanks for posting.

[MadelineZapeezda]

Just watched it yesterday, I grew up listening to them....thanks for posting....they were treasures and will live on with their music.