Welcome to Yiddishland(2024)

A bissele Glik(de)

A Yiddish World Remembered(en)

Elliott Gould narrates this affectionate look at life in the shtetls of Eastern Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries. "It's unreal that all this could have just disappeared," says Polish native Mariem Adler Stok, one of the seniors whose memories of this "Yiddish world" give this documentary its life. The hour traces Jewish history in Europe and explores Jews' focus on education, their religious customs, clothing, food, music and theater.

The Paper Brigade(fr)

Lithuania, 1941, during World War II. Hundreds of thousands of texts on Jewish culture, stolen by the Germans, are gathered in Vilnius to be classified, either to be stored or to be destroyed. A group of Jewish scholars and writers, commissioned by the invaders to carry out the sorting operations, but reluctant to collaborate and determined to save their legacy, hide many books in the ghetto where they are confined. This is the epic story of the Paper Brigade.

The Great Yiddish Love(en)

Set in Berlin and New York's Lower East Side, The Great Yiddish Love stars the self-exiled Marlene Dietrich and her Nazi-endorsed replacement, Zarah Leander. It is a melodrama of love, emigration, and betrayal reassembled from Hollywood, German Ufa and Yiddish films from the 1930s and 40s.

A Little Family Conversation(fr)

The questioning of Jewish heritage and identity via the portrait of a diversed family, across Belgium and the United States.

An American Pickle(en)

An immigrant worker at a pickle factory is accidentally preserved for 100 years and wakes up in modern day Brooklyn. He learns his only surviving relative is his great grandson, a computer coder who he can’t connect with.

The Man Without a World(en)

The Man Without a World is credited to the legendary (and imaginary) 1920s Soviet director, Yevgeny Antinov. But the film is anything but old. In fact, Antinov himself is the creation of contemporary filmmaker Eleanor Antin. Her film is a moving, comic melodrama set in a typical shtetl (village) in Poland. The Jews’ struggle against poverty and racial hatred is complicated by their own division into hostile political factions of the religious orthodoxy, assimilationists, socialists, Zionists, anarchists and survivors. While the Jews of the shtetl pursue their loves, politics, religion, business and dreams for the future, the Angel of Death is ever near...

Gold for Fools(en)

Raised in rural isolation by an extremist Hasidic sect, Chaim is torn between his devotion to his grandmother, an aging Holocaust survivor, and his attraction to a sexy blond in a Liberty car insurance ad.

40 Nickels(en)

Based her grandfather’s boyhood in St. Louis, Yasmin Gorenberg tells a story of the pain passed from refugee parents to their children and the hope that can overcome it. “40 Nickels” captures the image of a generation of immigrants to the United States in the 1920’s and 1930’s and through that spotlights the effects of the 1919 pogroms in Eastern Europe. This is a film about parents and children: how trauma never leaves a family, and how hope and resilience is also passed down. It asks the question: Can a new generation look at the world with wonder rather than fear?

Motel the Operator(yi)

Motel, a poor laborer, loving husband and new father, leads cloakmakers in a strike for better working conditions. When he is severely injured by strikebreakers, his wife, Esther, and infant son are left destitute. Desperate to save her starving child, Esther gives him up for adoption to a wealthy couple, and then commits suicide. The richly-rendered beautiful Yiddish songs by Sholem Secunda featuring Cantor Leibele Waldman and Joel Feig's famous choir are a good example of the bittersweet melodrama in the finest tradition of the Yiddish theater.

Life in Loops (A Megacities RMX)(en)

Timo Novotny labels his new project an experimental music documentary film, in a remix of the celebrated film Megacities (1997), a visually refined essay on the hidden faces of several world "megacities" by leading Austrian documentarist Michael Glawogger. Novotny complements 30 % of material taken straight from the film (and re-edited) with 70 % as yet unseen footage in which he blends original shots unused by Glawogger with his own sequences (shot by Megacities cameraman Wolfgang Thaler) from Tokyo. Alongside the Japanese metropolis, Life in Loops takes us right into the atmosphere of Mexico City, New York, Moscow and Bombay. This electrifying combination of fascinating film images and an equally compelling soundtrack from Sofa Surfers sets us off on a stunning audiovisual adventure across the continents. The film also makes an original contribution to the discussion on new trends in documentary filmmaking. Written by KARLOVY VARY IFF 2006

Brexit Through the Non-political Glass(en)

On 1 January 2021, the UK's transition period with the EU ended and new rules and regulations were agreed at the last minute. This is a time for reflection on the social phenomenon that is Brexit - which has now become a British trademark world-over, alongside the Royal Family, fish and chips and Sherlock Holmes. Brexit Through The Non-Political Glass puts politicians and public sentiments to one side, and seeks the opinions of non-partisan world-class experts - the scholars and professional advisors who specialize in this very topic; no politicians and propagandists, and no social media and populism; among the experts is Vernon Bogdanor, the Oxford tutor of former British prime minister David Cameron, who was consulted before the referendum was offered to the nation; you will hear what his advice was.

The History of Walther(en)

We take you to the Walther factory in Ulm, Germany, where Larry Vickers from Vickers Tactical sits down with Peter Dallhammer, Product Manager of Walther Arms, to talk about the long history of Walther Arms and where Walther is today.

The Man vs. The Machine(en)

On May 2,1997, Garry Kasparov, arguably the greatest human chess player ever, sat down in New York City to do battle with IBM's chess-playing computer, Deep Blue. While the much hyped match of man versus machine consisted of six chess games over nine days, there are many who would claim the entire contest was decided in just one move. This short documentary tells the epic tale of how mankind lost to the machine and highlighting what may have been man's ultimate downfall…having emotions.

Leaned Back(en)

A Chicago community puts their lives in danger to seek peace and salvation.

Edward VIII: Britain's Traitor King(en)

For the first time, the extent of the Duke of Windsor's treachery during World War II is revealed; not just sympathising with the enemy but, new evidence reveals, actively collaborating.

Daniel Timsit, l’Algérien(fr)

Tyler, The Creator - Live: Call Me If You Get Lost(en)

Grammy-winning artist Tyler, the Creator performs the critically-acclaimed album Call Me If You Get Lost, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 charts in downtown Los Angeles on March 31.

The Long Rider(en)

When Filipe Leite leaves his adoptive home of Canada, the aspiring journalist sets out on an epic quest to ride from Calgary to his family's home in Brazil - and later beyond - entirely on horseback.

Grand Chelem : Une si longue attente(fr)