Nazis Remember Their Pasts
Dina Gold reviews the new German language documentary Final Account with never before seen testimony from the last generation of WWII.
The Acid That Burns: Joy Ladin on The Book of Anna
The Book of Anna
By Joy Ladin
EOAGH Books, March 2021
$20, 151 pp.
The Book of Anna is a fictional narrative that tells the story of Czech-German Holocaust...
Crack, Bam, Dot: The Sounds and Stories of Mahjong with Author Annelise Heinz and Moment Deputy Editor Sarah Breger
Tiles clicking and clacking, women chatting – these are the childhood memories many Jewish women have of their mothers playing mahjong – a game still enjoyed today. How did a game from China make its way to America and how did it become so intertwined with Jewish culture in the United States? Annelise Heinz author of Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture takes us through the history of this beloved game. In conversation with Moment Deputy Editor Sarah Breger. In commemoration of Jewish American Heritage Month.
Mayim Bialik Is Back—Though Was She Ever Really Gone?
It feels like Mayim Bialik is everywhere. She is talking about mental health on her new podcast “The Breakdown with Mayim Bialik”; she is hosting...
Why Comedians Love Jewish Mothers & More with Comedian Judy Gold
For veteran stand-up comedian Judy Gold, turning overbearing Jewish mothers into a shtick is an act of love and reverence.
Israel’s Short Film Oscar Submission
In her latest review, Film Editor Dina Gold discusses White Eye, a new Israeli short film about racism and prejudice.
The Making of Midnight Cowboy with Journalist Glenn Frankel and Film Historian Rebecca Prime
In an era when a new wave of movies pushed the boundaries of mainstream filmmaking, Midnight Cowboy stands out as the riskiest, most unconventional, and most successful of them all. Glenn Frankel’s new book, Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic, explores the making of the only X-rated film to win a Best Picture Oscar and offers a window onto the creative ferment and social unrest that gripped New York and America in the 1960s: the rise of gay liberation, the treatment of sexual themes in popular culture, and the role of Jewish artists such as director John Schlesinger and star Dustin Hoffman. Glenn, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, in conversation with film historian and scholar Rebecca Prime, managing editor of Film Quarterly.
Cynthia Ozick: In Defense of Imagination
Every few years, a YouTube clip makes its way around the literary corners of the internet: A young Cynthia Ozick stands up at a 1971 panel on feminism featuring Norman Mailer.
Book Review | Sifting Through Memory with Cynthia Ozick
Antiquities is peak Cynthia Ozick. This novel is a tiny peephole into the purpose of living in a world that outlasts us.
Tango Shalom | The Dancing Rabbi of Crown Heights
Tango Shalom
Released February 11, 2021
1 hour 55 minutes
Directed by Gabriel Bologna
Convivencia Forever Films
Comedy, Family, Dance: English
Hasidic rabbi Moshe Yehuda is a father of five whose...
Adapting Jewish Literature: Yentl and A Tale of Love and Darkness with Fania Oz-Salzberger, Ruby Namdar and Rokhl Kafrissen
Fania Oz-Salzberger, Ruby Namdar and Rokhl Kafrissen join in conversation about what it means to adapt Jewish literature for the big screen.
While many Jewish filmmakers choose to write their own material and draft their own stories, others turn to interpretation. This program compares two films that share biographical features, Yentl and A Tale of Love and Darkness. Though released decades apart, both were directed by acclaimed actresses making their directorial debuts, Barbara Streisand and Natalie Portman respectively. These women notably adapted literary works written by men and their star power was critical to getting these films made.
Historian Fania Oz-Salzberger shares personal insights about her father, acclaimed Israeli writer Amos Oz, and his autobiographical novel A Tale of Love and Darkness and author and educator Ruby Namdar considers the film and the legacy of the memoir. Critic and playwright Rokhl Kafrissen explores Yentl, based on a play and short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer.
This program is a collaboration between Moment Magazine and REWIND: The Shenson Retrospective Film Series, a project of Stanford’s Taube Center for Jewish Studies. Both movies can be watched on Amazon Prime.