Jewish American History Month: Watch

Watch Films

Hover over the info button of each film for a brief description. The links to films which are not accessible for free on non-MU platforms show where the title can be streamed, rented, or purchased. The streaming options sometimes require a subscription, which is denoted with "Subs" under the tile for the platform. Information about platforms that are available for free with a public library card and about student discounts for subscription platforms is available here: https://libguides.lib.miamioh.edu/regionalstreaming/free

Documentaries at the Miami Libraries

The Jewish Americans (DVD) Chronicles the 350 year saga of immigrants who gradually wove themselves into the fabric of American life without abandoning their cherished traditions
Black Israel (DVD) This film is a vibrant portrait of pluralistic 21st-century Jewish identities across the globe. It documents Africans and African-Americans who live in Israel and practice Judaism there. Africans from Nigeria, Togo, the Congo, Zaire, Lagos and Ethiopia have emigrated to Israel to work or to study Judaism. They were unable to study their religion at home since there was no one to teach them. In the Negev desert, several thousand black Americans who fled the urban slums in the 1960s have formed an independent community where they practice their own version of the Hebraic religion under the law of their leader Carter Ben Ami. Although they have been denied citizenship in Israel, they enjoy friendly relations with Israelis and believe Israel is "the kingdom of Paradise on Earth." Many black Jews born in the Caribbean have moved to the U.S. to practice Judaism. One congregant of the Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Harlem, born in Trinidad, recalls that his father's family which had Sephardic roots, kept kosher and celebrated the Sabbath. We meet a diverse group of people from a Harlem rabbi who reveals his thoughts on the spread of Judaism in sub-Saharan Africa, to Rebecca Walker, the biracial daughter of civil rights activist Alice Walker and to an African learning Yiddish in Paris. As one Jew from Nigeria concludes, "Judaism has no color."
A Jewish Journey This film focuses on a group from a Jewish congregation in New Jersey who journey to eastern Europe in search of their Jewish past. No one expected a light-hearted vacation, but each felt it was important to make this connection to their Jewish heritage. Trips such as theirs have become big business in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland. Tour guides, travel agents, hotels, souvenir vendors and the like are profiting from the interest in the Holocaust. Even "Schindler's List tours" are proliferating. Yet despite such commercialism, this pilgrimage was deeply meaningful for the group we follow. As they visit the Old Jewish Cemetery, the ghetto of Terezin, the Tahani Synagogue in Budapest, and the extermination camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau - the impact is more searing than they anticipated. Many come away with a deeper commitment to the state of Israel and to their own identity as Jews
The tragedy of the Munich Games (DVD) On September 5, 1972, terror took over the Olympic games when Arab terrorists killed two Israeli athletes and took nine more hostage. Those who reported it to the world, including Peter Jennings and Jim McKay, recall the events of that day

Documentaries on Other Platforms

One of Us In the wake of trauma and abuse, three Hasidic Jews face ostracism, anxiety and danger as they attempt to leave their ultra-Orthodox community.
The Last Days This Oscar-winning documentary recounts the harrowing stories of five Hungarian Jews who endured the horrors of the Holocaust and Hitler's reign.
Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story Actor Dustin Hoffman narrates this decade-spanning documentary that highlights the contributions of Jewish Americans to the most American sport of them all: baseball. Highlights include a rare interview with legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax.
When Jews Were Funny From the 1930's to the 1970's, pretty well every comedian or comic you might see on TV or the movies was Jewish. Jews came to dominate the world of western‐society comedy on radio, stage and screen alike. Why did Jews dominate comedy in this period? And why did that domination end? Were Jews just funnier back then? And if so, did that extend to your average Jew on the street? In this 90 minute documentary acclaimed director Alan Zweig will examine these questions and many others in this exploration of 20th century humour, cultural decay, and a search for a missing heritage.

Feature Films and TV Shows at the Miami Libraries

The Book Thief (DVD)
Ida (DVD) Anna, a young novitiate in 1960s Poland, is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a family secret dating back to the years of the German occupation.
Yentl (DVD) In Eastern Europe in 1904, women are denied higher education. Yentl, with a passion to learn, disguises herself as a young man in order to gain entrance to an orthodox Jewish school
Fiddler on the Roof Tevye is a poor Jewish milkman with five unmarried daughters to support in a village in Czarist Russia. With a sharp tongued wife at home and growing anti-Semitism in the village, Tevye talks to God about his troubles. His people's traditions keep him strong when his existence is as precariously balanced as a fiddler on the roof
Funny Girl A musical film that follows the early career of stage comedienne Fanny Brice

Feature Films and TV Shows on Other Platforms

School Ties When David Greene receives a football scholarship to a prestigious prep school in the 1950s, he feels pressure to hide the fact that he is Jewish from his classmates and teachers, fearing that they may be anti-Semitic. He quickly becomes the big man on campus thanks to his football skills, but when his Jewish background is discovered, his worst fears are realized and his friends turn on him with violent threats and public ridicule.
Woman in Gold Maria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee, takes on the Austrian government to recover a world famous painting of her aunt plundered by the Nazis during World War II, she believes rightfully belongs to her family. She did so not just to regain what was rightfully hers, but also to obtain some measure of justice for the death, destruction, and massive art theft perpetrated by the Nazis.
Waiting for Anya During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
Fiddler on the Roof In a small Jewish community in a pre-Revolutionary Russian village, a poor milkman, determined to find good husbands for his five daughters, consults the traditional matchmaker – and also has words with God.
The Week Of Two fathers with clashing views about their children's upcoming wedding struggle to keep it together during the chaotic week before the big day.
Gentleman's Agreement A magazine writer poses as a Jew to expose anti-Semitism.
The Chosen In a 1940s New York, two Jewish teenage boys are determined to remain friends despite the deep differences between their two families.
Munich During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September. In retaliation, the Israeli government recruits a group of Mossad agents to track down and execute those responsible for the attack.

Last Updated: Aug 18, 2023 3:55 PM
URL: https://libguides.lib.miamioh.edu/JewishAmerican
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