Welcome to Yiddishland

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 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.

A bissele Glik(de)

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.

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.

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.

4th Dementia(en)

In this multiverse comedy about Alzheimer's, Nellie travels through alternate dimensions in search of her husband.

SHTTL(yi)

In one continuous shot, SHTTL shows the lives, loves, and inner conflicts within a Yiddish speaking shtetl on the border between Ukraine and Poland - one day before the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.

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.

Sur les routes éternelles de Samarkand(fr)

During the exhibition Splendors of the Oases of Uzbekistan at the Louvre, a journey to the mythical city of Samarkand, a fabulous tapestry of civilizations.

Tália(pt)

Can't Stop Falling in Love(id)

A small district in the north of Yogyakarta City famously called "Italy" is home to a football team called PSS SLEMAN, which is supported by its fans. Brigata Curva Sud, also known as bcsxpss.1976, is a group of PSS SLEMAN supporters who embrace the "ultras" path. A group of supporters whose motto is "Give us 90 minutes, and we'll give you a lifetime." The motto is more than just a phrase; their support doesn't end after 90 minutes. Brigata Curva Sud is well-known in Indonesian football because of their creativity in supporting their team. It has eight influential manifestos that help them stay in line and loyally support PSS SLEMAN.

The Graves of Edgar Allan Poe and the Women Who Haunted Him(en)

Hollywood Graveyard host Arthur Dark takes a journey into madness and mournful memory through the mind of Edgar Allan Poe, while visiting his gravesite.

Saved By Jane(en)

This beautifully moving short story shares an insight into Jane’s commitment, compassion and love for rescuing animals that most of our society considers food. Showing them the same respect as our companion animals, Jane has created a forever home for over 130 farm animals. An award-winning, debut short film from filmmaker Damian Sciberras, featuring Jane Baker, founder of Starfield Farm Animal Sanctuary.

Jackson/Marker 4am(en)

Introduced with a quote that invents its own creator, someone is dancing in a figure skating costume to a piece of music that conceals its source.

Tut's Lost City Revealed(en)

A century ago, archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the intact tomb of the boy king, Tutankhamun. Now, legendary archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass has uncovered a lost golden city that holds the secrets of King Tut's final days and Egypt's Golden Age.

Creation of the Kingdom of Exodus(da)

Get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the creative challenges Lars von Trier presents his cast and crew to bring his vision to life from script to shoot and to the screen at home.