The birth of modern stand-up comedy began in the Catskill Mountains - a boot camp for the greatest generation of Jewish-American Comedians.
Social & External
Down the road from Woodstock in the early 1970s, a revolution blossomed in a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers, transforming their young lives and igniting a landmark movement.
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 celebration of a great Jewish-American tradition. Beginning as places for Jews from Central and Eastern Europe to eat and meet, they expanded across America and eventually attracted as many non-Jews as Jews. Today, the number of Jewish Delis has shrunk dramatically and many of the survivors have adapted to changing times, sometimes in ways their forebears might not recognize.
The history of the Warsaw Ghetto (1940-43) as seen from both sides of the wall, its legacy and its memory: new light on a tragic era of division, destruction and mass murder thanks to the testimony of survivors and the discovery of a ten-minute film shot by Polish amateur filmmaker Alfons Ziółkowski in 1941.
At its peak, one million New York Jews spent their summers in the Borscht Belt, the birthplace of Jewish-American iconoclastic humor. This film shows how these Catskills communities were run by women, and how class divisions were reflected in the resort hotels: upwardly-mobile hotel guests were entertained by a who's-who of talent, while in the bungalows, do-it-yourself burlesque and vaudeville reigned among the blue-collar families. This film is happy, humane, ironic, and, finally, bittersweet, as we see that today's Jews no longer share the tastes or aspirations of their parents.
Seven months after helping her terminally ill mother during the end of her life in home-hospice, filmmaker Judith Helfand becomes a "new old" single mother at 50. Overnight, she's pushed to deal with her stuff: 63 boxes of her parent's heirlooms overwhelming her office-turned-future-baby's room, the weight her mother had begged her to lose, and the reality of being a half century older than her daughter.
The Land of Little Rivers, a network of tributaries in the Catskill Mountains of New York, is the birthplace of fly fishing in America and home to anglers obsessed by the sport.
Four 12-year-olds—Sharon, Tom, Moishy, and Sophie—prepare for their bar or bat mitzvot.
The convoluted and moving story of Russian writer Vassili Grossman (1905-64) and his novel Life and Fate (1980), a literary masterpiece, a monumental and epic account of life under Stalin's regime of terror, a defiant cry that the KGB tried to suffocate.
"People of the Graphic Novel" is a playful introduction to the history of an art form: from the first "funny pages" to seminal artists including Will Eisner and Art Spiegelman.
This intimately photographed film offers a peak into the lives of a culturally diverse group of young American Jews.
On the way to creating a new future, the New Jewish Filmmaking Project is rediscovering the past. 11 young storytellers, ages 15-25, collaborated with Citizen Film’s team of documentary professionals to create a multimedia exhibit that offers a set of signposts for what Jewish identity has been and is becoming.
An offbeat, irreverent musical documentary that tells the story of a group of Jewish songwriters, including Irving Berlin, Mel Tormé, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans, Gloria Shayne Baker and Johnny Marks, who wrote the soundtrack to Christianity’s most musical holiday. It’s an amazing tale of immigrant outsiders who became irreplaceable players in pop culture’s mainstream – a generation of songwriters who found in Christmas the perfect holiday in which to imagine a better world, and for at least one day a year, make us believe.
After years as a struggling actor, Daniel was cast to play a part in Conan O'Brien's "human-centipede-menorah." His bizarre experience evolved from one of shame into a deepening connection with his personal heritage, a reckoning with the choices he'd made, and ultimately a desire to tell the story of EIGHT NIGHTS. This is a film about our deep connection to the people we love. At a time when we couldn’t see some of those whom we love most, the making of this film felt even more poignant.
Documentarian Judith Helfand adopts z daughter at the age of 50.
OUTREMONT AND THE HASIDIM reveals the challenges of accommodating the “Hasidim” – or ultra-Orthodox Jews – in the affluent Montréal borough of Outremont.Some 7,000 Hasidim live in or near this choice neighbourhood of Québec’s Francophone elite. After settling there more than 70 years ago, the Hasidim are a rapidly growing minority group which today represents about 23% of Outremont’s population.Thanks to unprecedented access to this self-isolated community, the film lifts the veil on its practices, traditions, music and life as they had never before been seen on Canadian television, without ignoring the community’s expectations, fears. and hopes.
The history of Camp Kinderland, founded in the 1920s to provide Jewish children an escape from the hot New York City summers.
RAILS TO THE CATSKILLS is a history of the dynamic railroad industry in the Catskills of New York State. Catskill railroads have roots in the canals of the 1820's and the post Civil War railroad boom.
There isn't much left of the once-grand Catskill Mountain House. The lavish resort hotel was perched on a precarious ledge in Greene County for over a century. During its 19th-century heyday, the hotel embodied the peak of luxury for a generation of the rich and famous. But like many resort hotels of the Catskills' glittering past, the Mountain House fell into disuse in the 20th century and was finally destroyed by the state of New York in 1963 to return its scenic overlook to wilderness. The Catskill Mountain House and The World Around was given the Gold Remi Award by the 44th WorldFest Houston International Film Festival!
Marital doldrums and second thoughts beset Ivan and Vasilisa's "happily ever after", until boredom leads to a staged abduction.
Emma's plans get thrown off course when Paolo returns to Italy to take care of his father and she discovers a new passion for making art accessible to all.
Bill Miner was a train robber in British Columbia at the turn of the century. This animated film depicts a disastrous episode in his career.
This short film follows a man lost in the woods driven by his fear of the unknown.
The unbelievable story of 22 year old Or, who secretly finances his sex change operation in Thailand by lying to his conservative parents and then returns home as a woman to face her new life, her family and the cost of living her dream
Aravind Krishna, an indecisive man finds himself in a tight spot when he is forced to choose between two women.
The sixth night of the 29th edition of the G1 Climax featuring B Block matches. Taking place at the Korakuen Hall in Koraku, the show is headlined by Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley.
An atmospheric venture into slow cinema, following Rose, a down and out gay prostitute, trapped in the minutiae of his quiet and isolated life.
After winning big at the races, Torajiro Kuruma wants to take his aunt and uncle on a trip to Hawaii to partly pay the great filial debt he feels he owes them, but the plan hits a snag. Also, a pretty kindergarten teacher rents a room at Toraya.
When Marty's car is stolen, he sets out on a mission to find it; however, he soon realizes that the person who stole it is much more dangerous than he thinks.
Jackson is a lonely serial killer who is really beginning to question the point of all his killing. He is losing focus on why he started to kill in the first place. The future looks bleak until he meets a blind girl, Shelly, who begins to show him that life isn't so bad. It is all up to Jackson to decide if he's going to stop killing and start learning responsibility and think about finding a real job and starting a family.
Ana bolts from her wedding altar and flies from Venezuela to Paris to realize her dream of becoming a great opera star.
Dramatic tale of 7 year old Jerko who witnesses the destruction of family and village in 1991 during a Serbian attack of a peaceful Croatian village. He manages to escape and ends up in a war orphanage.
Martina and Sonja, cross-dress in vampire capes and werewolf claws, re-enacting familiar horror tropes. A corresponding soundtrack of stock screams and "scary" music suggests that the girls' toying with gender roles and power dynamics may have dire consequences.
Elham, on the day she wants to sell her gold to buy a house, realizes that her diamond necklace is missing at the jewelry store. She suspects Shahab, the upstairs neighbor, who came to their house in the morning to see the ceiling of the room and bathroom that had leaked, but…
WWE WrestleMania VIII was the eighth annual WrestleMania. It took place on April 5, 1992 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. The only WrestleMania officially recognized by WWE.com to have featured more than one headlining match, its card included two equally-promoted main events. In the first, WWF Champion Ric Flair defended his title against Randy Savage, and in the second, Hulk Hogan faced Sid Justice. As a consequence of the double main event, WrestleMania VIII carried two taglines: "The Macho/Flair Affair!" and "Friendship Torn Apart!" Notable matches on the undercard included WWF Intercontinental Champion Roddy Piper defending against Bret Hart, and WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc. defending against The Natural Disasters.
When it comes to his wife, Orestis is suspicious of everything, be it a moustachioed chauffeur or a lost pair of bumblebee-yellow gloves. But, are his fears justified or is this case of the lost fashion accessories a big misunderstanding?
After losing his close friend Bradley Nowell of Sublime to a heroin overdose, Todd Zalkins aka 'ZMAN' fights for his life in what will become the worst drug crisis in American History, the Opioid Epidemic. Against all odds, Todd is able to break a seventeen year addiction to prescription pain killers and dedicates his life to helping others who struggle with addiction.
