Insightful and hilarious, When Jews were funny surveys the history of Jewish comedy, from the early days of Borsht belt to the present, ultimately exploring the entire unruly question of what it means to be Jewish.

Examines the unique role of Jewish composers and lyricists in the creation of the modern American musical. This entertaining documentary mingles cultural history with illuminating perspectives on the origins and meanings of some of Broadway's most beloved songs, stories and shows.

In his bittersweet comedy loaded with human quirks and nuance, Jacob invents news reports to bolster the spirits of the other Jews living in his Polish ghetto under Nazi occupation. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1977, the story was remade in Hollywood starring Robin Williams in 1999. In a Polish ghetto in 1944, Jacob Heym is summoned to the police station. While there, Jacob overhears on the radio that "the Russians are twenty...

The first German feature film to explicitly address the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany, Marriage in the shadows called on Germans to accept collective responsibility for the crimes of the Third Reich. Stylistically, the production, in which many former Ufa artists were involved, blends classic melodrama in the Ufa style with documentary glimpses into life in Berlin under the Nazis. Shown in all four sectors of occupied Berlin and across Germany,...

This is an account of the birth of Islam and a history of conquest stretching from Persia to Spain. For the conquered, what was their place in this empire? For the polytheists they had little choice but to convert, for the People Of The Book, Jews and Christians would be allowed to practice their religions, protected but restricted.

History now takes us to Europe: the French Revolution. Nation-states. The Jews, now European citizens, became the target of a more asserted anti-Semitism. But having incorporated the new national elites, they began to take a greater interest in the fate of the Jews in the Muslim world and to play the role of their protectors. Trapped between Zionism and Arabic nationalism, Palestine — called “Southern Syria” by the Ottomans — became the object...

Art of faith is a visually sumptuous series exploring the architecture and art of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Each program is presented and narrated by the broadcaster John McCarthy, who visits many of the greatest and most significant religious buildings of the world. Art of faith: Judaism Judaism visits one of the earliest synagogues on the mountain fort of Masada, the Gothic Old-New Synagogue in Prague and nineteenth-century houses of worship...

In this documentary, Hildegard Bachert generously shares memories of her personal life and reflects on the work of 20th-century German artist Kthe Kollwitz. n 1936 at the age of 15, Jewish-born Hildegard Bachert left Germany for America. Only four years later, she joined Otto Kallir’s Galerie St. Etienne in New York. Throughout her career, Bachert has passionately promoted lesser-known German and Austrian artists to an American audience. Since the...

Anna Larina was the young bride of Nikolai Bukharin, one of the top leaders in the early years of the Russian Revolution. This documentary is based on her memorable autobiography, “This I Cannot Forget,” which she wrote late in life, after being imprisoned for almost twenty years in the Russian Gulag. Larina recounts her life story, which is interwoven with extraordinary archival film and interviews. Larina grew up during the 1917 October Revolution,...

Inspired by Jan Gross’ book titled Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, this film tells a shocking and brutal story that has been kept a secret in Poland for over 60 years. It tells the story of a pogrom in 1941 in Jedwabne, Poland and explores the implications of the past for present constructions and negotiations of personal, national and religious identity.. In the small town of Jedwabne in Northeast Poland, Jews lived...