The Yiddish Cinema: A Celebration of Jewish Life
Tuition: $200 | YIVO members: $150**
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This is a live, online course held on Zoom. Enrollment will be capped at about 25 students. All course details (Zoom link, syllabus, handouts, recordings of class sessions, etc.) will be posted to Canvas. Students will be granted access to the class on Canvas after registering for the class here on the YIVO website. This class will be conducted in English, and any readings will be in English.
Instructor: Eric Goldman
Yiddish cinema was the product of a changing world and a desire to hold on to traditions and ideals that were being questioned by contemporary Jewry. While Hollywood’s filmmakers presented a picture of the American ‘melting pot’ and their own desire to assimilate into American society, Yiddish filmmakers celebrated the beauty and particularity of Jewish life and culture. We will trace the history of Yiddish cinema from its early years as a showcase for Yiddish theater in Eastern Europe through its Golden Age in both Poland and the United States in the 1930s into today’s renewed interest and possible renaissance.
Yiddish Level:
No previous Yiddish proficiency is required for this course. The Yiddish films discussed will be subtitled in English.
Course Materials:
The instructor will provide all course materials digitally throughout the class on Canvas.
Optional: students may purchase the following suggested books:
- Goldman, Eric A. Visions, Images and Dreams: Yiddish Film Past and Present. (Teaneck NJ: Holmes & Meier Press, 1983, revised 2011) (Purchase)
- Hoberman, J. Bridge of Light: Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992, revised 2010) (Purchase)
Eric Goldman is adjunct professor of cinema at Yeshiva University and was curator and co-host of a twenty-film series on “the Jewish experience in cinema” on the Turner Classic Movies network. Eric was a fellow of the Max Weinreich Center for Eastern European Jewish Studies at YIVO, while pursuing his Ph.D. in cinema studies at N.Y.U. Dr. Goldman is founder of Ergo Media Inc., a pioneer distributor of Jewish, Yiddish and Israeli cinema. He is the author of Visions, Images and Dreams: Yiddish Film Past and Present (Holmes & Meier, 2011).
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