A Yiddish World Remembered

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.

Religulous

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.

Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport

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.

אסורות

Najwa, Nawal, and Siham, three Palestinian widows, live with their 11 children in a house on Shuhada Street in Hebron. Their house lies on the border; the façade is under Israeli occupation, the Palestinian Authority controls the back. At the entrance to the house is a military post; on the roof the Israeli army has placed a watch point over Palestinian Hebron. The three women, trapped in the middle and constantly surrounded by Israeli soldiers, carry on their difficult lives in a perverse situation: the occupation becomes a routine, the absurd becomes a given. This is the story of an occupation that extends to the staircase and the roof of the house, where it encounters poverty, loneliness, pain, but also the small joys of everyday life. This is an internal prison, the external one is the ongoing occupation.

Vauhtipyräys

70-year-old Timo makes the most of his short ride to work. Speeding up on a bicycle ends up in a ditch, but the adrenaline rush leaves a feeling of pleasure.

The Last Resort

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.

Promises

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.

Chaja & Mimi

Chaja Florentin and Mimi Frons have been best friends for 83 years. Born and raised in Berlin, they had to escape from the Nazis to Palestine with their families in 1934. They talk about their complicated relationship with Berlin in a Tel Aviv café where they meet everyday. A film about friendship, homeland and identity.

⁧הַשְׁמָצָה⁩

Intent on shaking up the ultimate 'sacred cow' for Jews, Israeli director Yoav Shamir embarks on a provocative - and at times irreverent - quest to answer the question, "What is anti-Semitism today?"

Juifs de Russie

Marching to Zion

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?".

House of Life: A Jewish Cemetary in Prague

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

שומרי הסף

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

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.

Dybuk. Rzecz o wędrówce dusz

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.

Zuflucht in Shanghai

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

Ganz: How I Lost My Beetle

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.

Der Prozeß

In over eight years of research, "Der Prozess" follows the longest criminal proceedings in Germany′s legal history - the "Majdanek Trial". In interviews with judges, the accused, victims and eye witnesses, and with the use of documentary footage and reports, the film recounts (in three parts) the legal trials against the workers and perpetrators of the Lublin/Majdanek concentration camp from the first day to the pronouncement of the judgment.

The Fantastic Mr Feynman

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.

Moses

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.