The Polish city of Łódź was under Nazi occupation for nearly the entirety of WWII. The segregation of the Jewish population into the ghetto, and the subsequent horrors are vividly chronicled via newsreels and photographs. The narration is taken almost entirely from journals and diaries of those who lived–and died–through the course of the occupation, with the number of different narrators diminishing as the film progresses, symbolic of the death of each narrator.

Six amateur musicians accept an offer to play a 2-week gig in the Catskills. When the bass player suddenly falls ill, they recruit a genuine pro to fill in. As they embark on the opportunity of a lifetime, dreams and reality begin to collide.