JA

A Yiddish World Remembered

November 2004 •English

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.

Supergirl

October 2016 •English

Naomi seems like a typical nine-year-old girl, until her passion for powerlifting transforms her life with world record-breaking championships and national news headlines. Supergirl explores Naomi’s coming-of-age journey as she and her Orthodox Jewish family are changed forever by her inner strength and extraordinary talent.

Promises

January 2001 •English

Documentarians Justine Shapiro and B.Z. Goldberg traveled to Israel to interview Palestinian and Israeli kids ages 11 to 13, assembling their views on living in a society afflicted with violence, separatism and religious and political extremism. This 2002 Oscar nominee for Best Feature Documentary culminates in an astonishing day in which two Israeli children meet Palestinian youngsters at a refugee camp.

Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport

September 2000 •English

In the nine months prior to World War II, 10.000 innocent children left behind their families, their homes, their childhood, and took the journey... to Britain to escape the Nazi Holocaust.

Quilt Fever

June 2019 •English

Welcome to “The Academy Awards of quilting”, a weeklong spectacle in which quilters from all over the world gather in Paducah, Kentucky every year for its huge quilt competition.

A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden

January 1987 •English

A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden was the first film to document the klezmer revival, tracing the efforts of two founding groups, Kapelye and Boston's Klezmer Conservatory Band, to recover the lost history of klezmer music. For nearly a millennium, this vigorous and soulful music was part of the celebration of Jewish life in Eastern Europe. In the early decades of this century, the music took root in America. Klezmer musicians learned hundreds of tunes by ear and their ears were open to Gypsy, Ukrainian and Greek melodies of the old world, as well as to the new sounds of American jazz. Music born in Eastern Europe lived on in the imaginations of composers for New York's Yiddish theater, men whose tunes entered the mainstream through such unlikely adapters as the Andrew Sisters. Eventually Klezmer went underground as its audience assimilated into mainstream American culture.

The Last Resort

January 2018 •English

An uncannily revealing portrait of American photographers Andy Sweet and Gary Monroe and the vibrant community of Jewish retirees they obsessively focused their camera's lens on in the sunburned paradise of 1970s Miami Beach.

The Gatekeepers

July 2012 •Hebrew

In an unprecedented and candid series of interviews, six former heads of the Shin Bet — Israel's intelligence and security agency — speak about their role in Israel's decades-long counterterrorism campaign, discussing their controversial methods and whether the ends ultimately justify the means.

We Were Here

September 2011 •English

A reflective look at the arrival and impact of AIDS in San Francisco and how individuals rose to the occasion during the first years of the crisis.

The Fantastic Mr Feynman

May 2013 •English

Richard Feynman is one of the most iconic, influential and inspiring scientists of the 20th century. He helped design the atomic bomb, solved the mystery of the Challenger Shuttle catastrophe and won a Nobel Prize. Now, 25 years after his death - in his own words and those of his friends and family - this is the story of the most captivating communicator in the history of science.

Why Do They Hate Us?

December 2016 •French

House of Life: A Jewish Cemetary in Prague

January 2008 •English

A deep dive documentary into the history of the Old Jewish Cemetery of Prague.

The Port of Last Resort

January 1998 •German

Documentary that follows the lives of several Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai during WWII.

Ganz: How I Lost My Beetle

May 2019 •English

Josef Ganz, editor of trade journal Motor-Kritik, amazed Germany by appearing in a revolutionary tiny car in 1932. It was his dream: a people's car anyone can afford. The idea made its way to new Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler. But in Hitler's dream there was no place for Jewish inventor Ganz. This is the story of the man whose designs led to the invention of the Volkswagen Beetle, and who ultimately lost everything. In the film, Ganz's relatives and admirers bring his lost heritage back to life.

Religulous

October 2008 •English

Commentator-comic Bill Maher plays devil's advocate with religion as he talks to believers about their faith. Traveling around the world, Maher examines the tenets of Christianity, Judaism and Islam and raises questions about homosexuality, proof of Christ's existence, Jewish Sabbath laws, violent Muslim extremists.

Marching to Zion

March 2015 •English

Documentary tracing the history of the Jewish people from the destruction of the temple in AD 70 to the modern-day nation of Israel. Through scriptural and historical evidence, DNA, mathematics, and testimony from rabbis and pastors, it attempts to answer the question, "Who are God's chosen people?".

The Jewish Experience, from Basavilbaso to New Amsterdam

April 2019 •Spanish

Director Miguel Kohan tries to connect the memories of his Gaucho-Jewish family with the fleeing of the Sephardim from the Iberian Península in 1492. Surinam, New York, Jamaica, and Brazil are some of the places where the untold story of those who escaped inquisition is visibilized.

Moses

November 2002 •English

The Old Testament book of Exodus tells the story of Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt. This documentary explores this exodus and Moses to find proof that he really did exist. Records found in Egypt, recent scientific discoveries, and research propose that he did live. Learn how a distant volcano and flooding of the Nile could be related to the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea.

Les juifs de Pologne, des cendres à l'espoir

September 2013 •French

The Dybbuk: A Tale of Wandering Souls

November 2015 •Polish

30 thousand Hasidim journey to Uman in Ukraine to celebrate the Jewish New Year at the gravesite of Rebbe Nachmann. A Ukrainian far-right group erects a cross at the site of Hasidic prayers and builds a monument to Cossacks who slaughtered thousands of Jews and Poles in 1768.