For DVD Purchase
& Public Performance Rental
Click on "More" for purchase availability
and/or public exhibition formats.
A
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]Advice and Dissent
USA, 2002, 21 minutes, color
Directed By Leib Cohen
35mm DVD VHS
A frustrated businessman, Jeffery Goldman (John Pankow) tries to end his hopeless marriage by asking his local Rabbi (Eli Wallach) to place a curse on his wife. What happens next sets in motion a chain of unexpected events. Also starring Rebecca Pidgeon. More
Ahead of Time
2009, USA/ Israel, 73 minutes, Color/ B&W
English & Hebrew with English subtitles
Directed by Robert Richman
DVD
Born in Brooklyn in 1911, Ruth Gruber became the youngest Ph.D. in the world before going on to become an international foreign correspondent and photojournalist at age 24. She emerged as the eyes and conscience of the world. With her love of adventure, fearlessness and powerful intellect, Ruth defied tradition in an extraordinary career that spanned more than seven decades. More
America Condemns Nazi Terrorism
USA, 1938, 4 minutes, B&W
Narrator: Lowell Thomas
16mm
This Movietone newsreel from the week of 20 November 1938 is the only known filmed American news story about Kristallnacht. This rare footage shows President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, former president Herbert Hoover, Al Smith, and Alf Landon. More
American Jerusalem: Jews and the Making of San Francisco
USA, 2013, 57 minutes
Directed by Marc Shaffer
Blu-ray DVD
The remarkable story of the pioneering Jews of San Francisco. Drawn to California by the Gold Rush, Jews were welcomed in San Francisco. They went on to build a thriving community, the second largest Jewish community in the United States after New York. With a newfound freedom, Jews played a central role in the transformation of this once-sleepy maritime village into the largest metropolis in the American West. More
American Matchmaker (Amerikaner Shadkhn)
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1940, 87 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with new English subtitles
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
35mm 16mm DVD
Leo Fuchs, the "Yiddish Fred Astaire," stars in this musical comedy as Nat Silver, a debonair and wealthy Jewish-American businessman whose recent engagement (his eighth) goes awry. Ulmer’s last Yiddish movie was also his most modern, an art deco romantic comedy about male ambivalence and Jewish assimilation. More
Amy
USA, 1997, 8 minutes, color
Directed by Susan Rivo
DVD
A poignant and hilarious personal narrative about the filmmaker’s lifelong attachment and deep bond with a stuffed animal received at birth. More
B
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Breaking Home Ties
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1922, 78 minutes, B&W
Silent with new English intertitles
Directed by Frank N. Seltzer & George K. Rowlands
DCP DVD Blu-ray
Long thought lost, the world's only existing print of Breaking Home Ties was discovered by NCJF in a Berlin archive in 1984. Thinking he killed his friend Paul in a blind rage, David Bergmann flees pre-revolutionary Russia for America. In New York he becomes a succesful lawyer and woos the boss' daughter Rose. More
Breaking the Silence: The Generation After the Holocaust
USA, 1984, 58 minutes, color
Directed by Edward A. Mason; Produced by Eva Fogelman
DVD
This classic film tells a moving story of personal growth as the children of Holocaust survivors find the strength to confront their painful legacy and overcome the barriers of unasked and unanswered questions that separate them from their parents. More
C
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
A Cantor on Trial (Khazan afn Probe)
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1931, 10 min, B&W
Yiddish with English subtitles
Directed by Sidney M. Goldin
35mm 16mm DVD
Cantor Leibele Waldman plays multiple roles in this spoof of a synagogue committee in search of a chazan (cantor). More
The Cantor's Son (Dem Khazns Zundl)
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1937, 90 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with new English subtitles
Directed by Ilya Motyleff (Sidney Goldin, uncredited)
35mm DVD
This "anti-Jazz Singer” marks the screen debut of Moishe Oysher who stars as a wayward youth who makes his way from his Polish shtetl to New York's Lower East Side where he becomes a well-known singer. Ultimately, he returns home to the Old Country and reunites with his parents and his childhood sweetheart. More
Carvalho's Journey
USA, 2015, 85 minutes
Directed by Steve Rivo
Digital Blu-ray DVD
A real life 19th-century American western adventure story, Carvalho's Journey tells the extraordinary story of Solomon Nunes Carvalho (1815-1897), an observant Sephardic Jew born in Charleston, South Carolina, and his life as a groundbreaking explorer and artist. The film interweaves stunning HD digital and 16mm film landscape cinematography, rare 19th century photographs and artwork, Carvalho’s own surviving paintings and daguerreotypes, and interviews with scholars and artists, including modern day daguerreotypist Robert Shlaer who recreates Carvalho’s original daguerreotypes on location. More
Catskill Honeymoon
USA, 1949, 93 minutes, B&W
English and Yiddish (no subtitles)
Directed by Josef Berne
16mm DVD
A Jewish resort hotel celebrates a pair of longtime customers' 50th wedding anniversary by staging an old-fashioned Borscht Belt show. Filmed on location at Young's Gap Hotel in Parksville, New York. More
A Child of the Ghetto
PRESERVED BY NCJF
USA, 1910, 15 minutes, B&W
Silent with English intertitles
Directed by D. W. Griffith
16mm DVD
This tale of New York’s Lower East Side life captures the hustle and bustle of Rivington Street through the lens of legendary Hollywood director D. W. Griffith. Ruth flees the ghetto and hides in the country, where a young farmer takes her in and they fall in love. More
Cohen on the Telephone
PRESERVED BY NCJF
USA, 1929, 9 minutes, B&W
with sound, in English
Directed by Robert Ross
16mm DVD
Trying to make a call and unfamiliar with the telephone, Cohen embroils himself in a comic monologue of misunderstanding. Here, we see how the Jewish immigrant is now characterized not simply by how he moves and looks, but by how he speaks. More
Cohen Saves the Flag
PRESERVED BY NCJF
USA, 1913, 10 minutes, B&W
Silent with English intertitles
Directed by Mack Sennett
16mm DVD
Cohen is a sergeant in the Union Army and the bitter rival of another officer for the attentions of Rebecca. Like most burlesque Jewish characters of this period, this caricature borders on anti-semitism. Yet Cohen is also the hero of the film. More
Cohen's Advertising Scheme
PRESERVED BY NCJF
USA, 1904, 1 minute, B&W
Silent without intertitles
Directed by Edwin S. Porter
16mm DVD
This may be the earliest cinematic example of the Jewish stereotype known as the "scheming merchant”. Cohen, a grotesquely made-up Jewish shop owner, tricks a passerby into wearing a coat that has a sign advertising his store attached to the back. More
Cohen's Fire Sale
PRESERVED BY NCJF
USA, 1907, 10 minutes, B&W
Silent without intertitles
Directed by Edwin S. Porter
16mm DVD
Cohen, made-up in grotesque vaudevillian Jewish style, pursues a trash wagon, picking up hats as they accidentally drop off. When he finds the hats are not selling, Cohen reads his insurance policy and arranges for an "accidental" fire." More
The Cowboy
USA, 1968, 11 minutes, B&W
Yiddish (no subtitles)
Directed by Abe Wexler
16mm DVD
It's just your typical all-Yiddish shoot-'em-up. This hilarious spoof was made by adding a Yiddish dialogue to a 1932 Hollywood Western. More
E
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Enemies: A Love Story
USA, 1989, 119 minutes, color
Directed by Paul Mazursky
16mm
This film, based on the novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer, deals with the lives of Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, who find it difficult to abide by religious morales and question a God who could let the Holocaust occur. More
F
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
From Philadelphia to the Front
USA, 2005, 37 minutes, color
Directed by Judy Gelles and Marianne Bernstein
DVD
This award-winning film is one of the few documentaries to explore the experiences of Jewish-American World War II soldiers. For Jews, the war to defeat Hitler had deeply personal significance. An audience favorite, this film focuses on six Philadelphia veterans, now in their 80’s. More
The Front
USA, 1976, 94 minutes, color
Directed by Woody Allen
16mm
Woody Allen plays a man of no real talent or strong political convictions who is paid to be a front for a group of black listed writers during the McCarthy period in the United States. More
Funny Girl
USA, 1968, 155 minutes, color
Directed by William Wyler
16mm
The life of comedienne Fannie Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of the Lower East Side, to the height of her career with the Ziegfeld Follies, including her marriage to and eventual divorce from her first husband, Nick Arnstein. More
G
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Gentleman's Agreement
USA, 1947, 118 minutes, B&W
Directed by Elia Kazan
16mm
A classic film in which a journalist who passes himself off as a Jew to write an article about Semitism in America, and discovers how racism affects people. More
The Giving Tree
USA, 1971, 10 minutes, color
From the story by Shel Silverstein
16mm
This animated short tells the story of the relationship between a little boy and the tree which lovingly and unstintingly provides for his needs at each stage of his life. More
Great Cantors in Cinema/ Great Cantors of the Golden Age
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 2006, 120 minutes, B&W/color
Hebrew, Yiddish and English with English subtitles
Directed by Rich Pontius; Produced by Cantor Murray Simon
2 DVD Set
These two films feature some of the rarest and finest performances of renowned cantors from 1910 to the 1940s, including Adolph Katchko, Yossele Rosenblatt, David Roitman, Joseph Shlisky, and Mordechai Hershman, Moshe Koussevitsky, and Leibele Waldman. More
H
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
His People
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1925, 91 minutes, B&W
Silent with English intertitles
Directed by Edward Sloman
16mm DVD
The two sons of a poor Russian-Jewish pushcart peddler on New York's Lower East Side are causing their father grief. As Morris and Sammy stray from traditions cherished by their parents, each generation learns to accept change to preserve the family as a source of love and respect. More
His Wife's Lover(Zayn Vaybs Lubovnik)
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1931, 80 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with new English subtitles
Directed by Sidney M. Goldin
35mm DVD
His Wife’s Lover stars the popular comedian of the Yiddish theatre Ludwig Satz. It was billed as the "first Jewish musical comedy talking picture." More
Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream
USA, 1997, 100 minutes, color/B&W
Directed by Simcha Jacobovici
16mm
Based on Neal Gabler's best-selling book, this award-winning film tells the story of the Jewish moguls who founded Hollywood. All were immigrants, or children of immigrants, who wanted to reinvent themselves as Americans. More
Homicide
USA, 1991, 102 minutes, color
Directed by David Mamet
16mm
A Jewish homicide detective investigates a seemingly minor murder and falls in with a Zionist group as a result. More
House of Rothschild
USA, 1934, 88 minutes, B&W
Directed by Alfred L. Werker
16mm
George Arliss stars as Nathan Rothschild in this chronicle of the famed banking family at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. More
How Moshe Came Back
PRESERVED BY NCJF
USA, 1914, 10 minutes, B&W
Silent with English intertitles
Produced by Crystal Films
16mm DVD
An example of Jewish characterizations in the silent film era, Moshe, a 98-pound boxer defeats his 240-pounds opponent…by cheating. More
Hungry Hearts
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1922, 80 minutes, B&W
Silent with English intertitles
Added original soundtrack (2006)
Directed by E. Mason Hopper
16mm DVD
A Hollywood adaptation of the short stories of Anzia Yezierska, the first writer to bring stories of American Jewish women to a mainstream audience, Hungry Hearts focuses on the hopes and hardships of the Levin family, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe living on New York City's Lower East Side. More
I
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
I Want To Be A Boarder (Ich Vil Zeyn a Boarder)
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1937, 15 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with English subtitles
Directed by Joseph Seiden
35mm 16mm DVD
A lively short about a husband and wife who seek to reignite their marriage by pretending to be landlady and tenant. More
The Immigrant
USA, 1917, 20 minutes, b&w
Silent with English intertitles
Directed by Charlie Chaplin
16mm
Charlie Chaplin's hilarious portrayal of a penniless immigrant's journey to, and arrival in, America. More
The Imported Bridegroom
USA, 1990, 93 minutes, color
Directed by Pamela Berger
35mm 16mm DVD
A Jewish romance begins when Asriel, a turn-of-the-century, rich Boston widower returns from a visit to the old country with a man he believes is the perfect man for his daughter. But when the two meet, his thoroughly modern daughter is appalled by this pious scholar, or is she? More
The Inheritance
USA, 1964, 58 minutes, B&W
Produced by Harold Mayer
16mm DVD
A portrait of 20th century America as seen through the eyes of its working people: immigrants in the early 1900s, workers in sweatshops, coal mines, and textile mills, soldiers on the battlefields of world wars I and II and in the Civil Rights movement. More
Is There Poetry After Auschwitz?
USA, 1992, 60 minutes, color
Produced by Vivienne Hermann and Dale Sonnenberg
DVD VHS
This moving portrait of artist Vivienne Hermann, who spent five years as a child in forced labor camps during World War II, answers the eponymous question with a resounding “Yes!” As Hermann says: “I am the poem. I may be a tragic poem. I may be an irritating poem. But I am the poem." More
Island of Roses: The Jews of Rhodes in Los Angeles
USA, 1995, 55 minutes, color
English, Italian, French and Ladino with English subtitles
Directed by Gregori Viens
DVD
This film visits the Los Angeles community of “Rhodeslis”—Jews who lived on the Mediterranean island of Rhodes from 1492 to World War II—who have passed down their traditions, food, songs, rituals, and their medieval Ladino Spanish dialect to their American-born descendants. More
J
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
The Jazz Singer
USA, 1927, 90 minutes, B&W
Silent with intertitles and some sound
Directed by Alan Crosland
16mm
This landmark of modern cinema, the first “talking picture,” is also a pro-assimilationist story about a cantor's son who rejects his family's tradition for Jazz and Broadway. More
Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray
USA, 2011, 86 minutes
Directed by Jonathan Gruber
DVD
Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, this exploration of the little-known history of the Jews who fought for both the Confederacy and Union is the first documentary devoted to the subject. Allegiances during the War Between the States split the Jewish community as deeply as the national debate in the country at large: some prominent Jewish voices cited the Torah to justify slavery, while others led the abolitionist movement. More
K
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Kol Nidre
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1939, 88 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with new English subtitles
Directed by Joseph Seiden
Digital
A melodrama -with music and romance- about a girl torn between two childhood boyfriends, this film is a suprisingly risque shund Yiddish tearjerker exploring assimilation, antisemitism and gender roles. More
L
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
The Land Was Theirs
USA, 1993, 55 minutes, color/B&W
Directed by Gertrude Dubrovsky
DVD
Set in New Jersey, The Land Was Theirs profiles Jewish farmers and their communities. It opens a window on the experience of immigrants who came to America in search of a better life and found it in the rural countryside. More
Levy and Cohen: The Irish Comedians
USA, 1903, 1 minute, B&W, Silent
Produced by American Mutoscope and Biography Company
16mm
Two vaudeville comics perform before an unappreciative audience that pelts them with various vegetables.
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
USA, 1999, 95 minutes, color
Directed by Aviva Kempner
35mm 16mm
As Hitler invaded Europe, a young Jewish baseball player challenged Babe Ruth’s homerun record. This is the story of how he became an American hero. More
The Living Orphan (Der Lebediker Yusem)
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1937, 97 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with new English subtitles
Directed by Joseph Seiden
35mm DVD
The story of a stage couple whose marriage is strained by life in the theater. Adapted from one of the best 2nd Avenue Yiddish Theatre domestic melodramas, director Joseph Seiden’s sentimental film is drawn from life in 1930s New York City. More
Long Fliv the King
PRESERVED BY NCJF
USA, 1926, 22 minutes, B&W
Silent with English intertitles
Directed by Leo McCarey
16mm DVD
This offbeat comedy from future Hollywood screwball director McCarey is about a princess who must find a husband in 24 hours or forfeit her throne. She quickly marries a condemned man—but the man is pardoned. More
M
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Making Trouble: Three Generations of Funny Jewish Women
2006, USA, 85 minutes, Color
Directed by Rachel Talbot; Produced by the Jewish Women's Archive
DVD
This film festival favorite tells the story of six of the greatest female comic performers of the last century — Molly Picon, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner, and Wendy Wasserstein. Hosted by four of today’s funniest women — Judy Gold, Jackie Hoffman, Cory Kahaney, and Jessica Kirson — it's the true saga of what it means to be Jewish, female and funny. More
Mamadrama: The Jewish Mother in Cinema
Australia, 2000, 73 minutes, color
Written & Directed by Monique Schwarz
16mm DVD
A funny, penetrating look at how the loving and affectionate portrayals in early Yiddish and Hollywood silent movies developed into the Jewish Mother of modern Hollywood and, conversely, the more flesh and blood characterizations in contemporary Israeli cinema. More
Meet Me In Miami Beach
USA, 1994, 18 minutes, color
Directed by Bonnie Cohen
16mm
This documentary focuses on three elderly Jews living out their retirement years in Miami Beach, poignantly capturing the subjects' thoughts and memories, as well as the contrast between the old and young populations of contemporary Miami Beach. More
Mirele Efros
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1939, 80 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with English subtitles
Directed by Joseph Berne
16mm DVD
Mirele Efros, "the Jewish Queen Lear," was the masterpiece of influential Yiddish playwright Jacob Gordin. Berta Gersten gives a memorable performance as Mirele, a wealthy and pious widow whose devotion to her children extends to hand-picking a wife for her eldest son. Unfortunately, she gravely mistakes the young woman's character. More
Motel the Operator
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1939, 88 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with new English subtitles
Directed by Joseph Seiden
35mm DVD
Focusing on a labor dispute in the garment district of New York City, the film survives as an important historical document highlighting the hardships of the Jewish immigrant experience in America. More
N
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Nahum N. Glatzer & The German-Jewish Tradition
USA, 2011, 60 minutes
Directed by Judith Glatzer Wechsler
DVD
Filmmaker and art historian Judith Glatzer Wechsler's new documentary is a moving portrait of the life and work of her revered father and scholar Nahum N. Glatzer (1903-1990). More
Nize People
PRESERVED BY NCJF
USA, 1927, 20 minutes, B&W
Silent with English intertitles
Directed by Sam Newfield
16mm
A slapstick comedy in the immigrant/vaudeville genre, Lizzie believes her necklace has been stolen, setting off a series of crazy events when Mr. O'Connor hires the "world's greatest detective," who turns out be Lunatic Louie, an escapee from an insane asylum! More
O
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Of Stars and Shamrocks: Boston's Jews and Irish
USA, 1995, 55 minutes, color/B&W
Directed by John Michalczyk
DVD VHS
Both Irish and Jewish immigrants settled in Protestant Brahmin Boston in the late-19th century, and both encountered bigotry, exploitation, exclusion and discrimination. This film chronicles the interaction between the two ethnic communities over the last 100 years. More
Old Isaac, The Pawnbroker
PRESERVED BY NCJF
USA, 1908, 10 minutes, B&W
Silent without intertitles
Directed by Wallace McCutcheon
16mm DVD
In this film, a small girl in an urban slum seeks aid for her sick and starving mother. Trying to pawn her doll, she attracts the attention of the shop’s owner old Isaacs, who later stops the men trying to evict the sick woman. More
P
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Papa's Pest
PRESERVED BY NCJF
USA, 1928, 20 minutes, B&W
Silent with English intertitles
Directed by Les Goodwins
16mm DVD
Another in the Izzie and Lizzie series, this film continues the slapstick style which explodes from a domestic comedy into a frenzy of wild action and fast chases. More
The Pawnbroker
USA, 1965, 114 minutes, B&W
Directed by Sidney Lumet
16mm
One of the first films to deal with the effects of Nazi Germany’s concentration camps on their survivors. One survivor, played by Rod Steiger, suffers an internal conflict between submitting to the injustices he endured or resisting the injustice. More
Punk Jews
USA, 2012, 60 minutes, color
Directed by Jesse Zook Mann
DVD Blu-ray igital
Profiling Hassidic punk rockers, Yiddish street performers, African-American Jewish activists and more, Punk Jews explores an emerging movement of provocateurs and committed Jews who are asking, each in his or her own way, what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century. In the process, they are challenging stereotypes and breaking down barriers. More
R
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Radio Days
USA, 1987, 85 minutes, color
Directed by Woody Allen
16mm
Woody Allen narrates his nostalgic look at growing up in Queens, NY in the 1940s, showing how memories of family life are intimately tied to the radio performers of the day. More
Rendevous with Freedom
USA, 1972, 56 minutes, color
Directed by Marc Siegel
16mm
Demonstrating how Jews helped shape the growing American nation, this film traces the development of American Jewry, beginning with the arrival of the first Jewish settlers in 1645 in New Amsterdam. More
Romance of a Jewess
PRESERVED BY NCJF
USA, 1908, 10 minutes, B&W
Silent without intertitles
Directed by D.W. Griffith
16mm DVD
This early D. W. Griffith short shows the director's interest in Jewish ghetto life, portrayed here with sympathy and sentimentality. The melodramatic plot involves the conflict between generations in an immigrant Jewish family. More
Rosenwald
USA, 2015, color
Directed by Aviva Kempner
Public Performance Rental only
The incredible story of Julius Rosenwald, the son of an immigrant peddler who never finished high school, who rose to become the President of Sears. Influenced by the writings of the educator Booker T. Washington, this Jewish philanthropist joined forces with African American communities during the Jim Crow South to build 5,300 schools, providing 660,000 black children with access to education in the segregated American South. More
S
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Samuel Bak: The Art of Speaking About the Unspeakable
USA, 2001, 37 minutes, color
Produced by Rob Cooper and the Pucker Gallery
DVD
For over 60 years, from his first paintings as a child prodigy in the Vilna Ghetto, Samuel Bak has produced a remarkable body of work that has earned him an international reputation as a painter of thought-provoking images. More
Samuel Bak: Painter of Questions
Canada, 2003, 48 minutes, color
Directed by Christa Singer
DVD
On the occasion of a retrospective exhibit of his work, painter Samuel Bak returned to his hometown of Vilna. Saved from the death camps by his father, the miracle of Bak’s survival is a recurring theme in the unique and powerful visual vocabulary of his work. More
Santa Fe
Austria, 1985, 110 minutes, B&W
German with English Subtitles
Directed by Axel Corti
DVD
Picking up after God Does Not Believe In Us Anymore, Freddy struggles to find work after arriving in New York in 1940. His world of refugee acquaintances includes the depressed daughter of a poet/delicatessen owner, an aging surgeon who cannot find work, and a lovable charlatan photographer. Corti’s trilogy continues with Welcome In Vienna. More
A Secret Space
USA, 1977, 80 minutes, color
Directed by Roberta O. Hodes
16mm
A thirteen year old boy in New York City discovers an abandoned Lower East Side synagogue and joins the motley congregation trying to rebuild it. His hip, liberal parents freak out when they discover his involvement with 'Religion.' More
Singing in the Dark
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1956, 86 minutes, B&W
Directed by Max Nosseck
35mm DVD
A quirky combination of 1950s movie conventions—the musical, gangster and mystery movie—this virtually unknown independent film is one of the first American features to dramatize the Holocaust. Starring Moishe Oysher as a German concentration camp survivor suffering from traumatic amnesia who becomes a New York singing sensation. More
T
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem
USA, 2014, 75 min, English
Directed by John Lollos
Narrated by Alan Alda
NEW RELEASE
Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem focuses on both playwright and actor and how the their overlapping arts exemplify Yiddish as both a fountain and a river that still connects. Bikel’s masterful performance of stories, songs and monologs from his stage show are intertwined into a broader examination of Sholom Aleichem’s life and work and their continuing relevance to Jewish culture. More
Two Sisters (Tsvey Shvester)
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1938, 82 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with new English subtitles
Directed by Ben K. Blake
16mm DVD
Make sure there's a hanky nearby: After the death of their mother, older sister Betty works tirelessly, supporting her sister through nursing school and her fiancée through medical school only to see her happiness shattered when the two fall in love. More
U
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Uncle Moses
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1932, 87 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with English subtitles
Directed by Sidney Goldin & Aubrey Scotto
16mm DVD
When poverty and persecution compel his Polish landsmen to leave their shtetl, "Uncle" Moses, the crude and lusty former butcher, welcomes them to his Lower East Side clothing factory. More
Unknown Secrets: Art and the Rosenberg Era
USA, 1990, 30 minutes, color
Directed by Daniel Keller, Charles Light & Rob Okun
16mm DVD
This film shows the influence of the Rosenberg case on the work of artists past and present, including Arthur Miller, Adrienne Rich, Picasso and many more. Includes dramatic readings by Ed Asner, Ossie Davis, Tony Randall, Ruby Dee, and Tovah Feldshuh. More
W
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
The Wandering Jew (Der Vanderner Yid)
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1933, 66 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with English subtitles
Directed by George Roland
35mm DVD
A German-Jewish artist encounters anti-semitism when his masterpiece is rejected by the Academy. The figure in the painting then comes to life and tells of Jewish persecution throughout history. This unusual film ends with footage of an anti-Hitler rally at Madison Square Garden. More
The Way We Were
USA, 1973, 118 minutes, color
Directed by Sydney Pollack
16mm
A love story between opposites spanning three decades: Katie, a Jewish political activist (Barbra Streisand) and Hubbell, a New York WASP writer (Robert Redford). Notable for its portrayal of a strong positive Jewish heroine and also serves as one of the few films to portray Jewish participation in the socialist movement of the '30s and the protests during the '50s.
Where is My Child? (Vu iz Mayn Kind?)
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1937, 92 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with English subtitles
Directed by Abraham Leff and Harry Lynn
16mm DVD
Celia Adler, doyenne of the Yiddish stage, gives a haunting performance as a new immigrant forced to give up her son. Obsessed with the thought of reuniting with him, she spends the next 25 years searching, pining, and bewailing her loss. More
Women Unchained
USA, 2011, 60 minutes, color
Hebrew and English with English subtitles
Directed by Beverly Siegel & Leta Lenik
DVD
An important new film documenting the experiences of modern-day “agunot,” or women whose husbands refuse to grant them a Jewish divorce. Narrated by actress Mayim Bialik (Blossom, The Big Bang Theory), Women Unchained offers strategies for what women can do to protect themselves and why the issue matters to all Jews. More
Y
[A] [B] [C] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [R] [S] [T] [U] [W] [X] [Y]
Yentl
USA, 1983, 134 minutes, color
Directed by Barbra Streisand
16mm
Streisand produced, directed, co-authored and stars in this landmark musical based on Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story about a young woman who disguises herself as a boy in order to study at a yeshiva in turn-of-the-century Eastern Europe.
The Yiddish Cinema
USA, 1991, 60 minutes, Color/B&W
Directed by Rich Pontius
DVD
Narrated by prolific writer and director David Mamet, this film is a perfect introduction to Yiddish cinema. The history of the genre through interviews, archival photographs, and film clips of many of The National Center for Jewish Film’s Yiddish feature films. More
The Yiddisher Boy
PRESERVED BY NCJF
USA, 1909, 3 minutes, B&W
Silent without intertitles
Produced by the Lubin Company
16mm
Director Lubin (originally Lubszynski) was first Jewish-American filmmaker. In the film, Moses uses his last pennies to help a friend in need. 25 years later the men meet again. The film is remarkable in its depiction of tradition in the face of oppressive circumstances. More
Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg
USA, 2009, 92 minutes, Color/B&W
Written, Produced & Directed by Aviva Kempner
35mm
The funny and surprising story of television pioneer Gertrude Berg, creator of America’s hit sitcom, The Goldbergs. As an actor, writer (12,000 scripts for CBS!) and TV celebrity, Berg’s trailblazing blend of comedy and social commentary—with Jewish characters at the center—endeared audiences and made her a cultural icon. By Aviva Kempner (Life and Times of Hank Greenberg). More
Yosl Cutler and His Puppets
RESTORED BY NCJF
USA, 1935, 18 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with new English subtitles
16mm DVD
Fanciful and slightly surreal sketches preserve Cutler’s work with the marionettes he designed, built, and brought to life. More
![]() |
|
![]()
|
|