JHVC

921

THE APPRENTICESHIP OF MORDECAI RICHLER (1988)

Ric

Mordecai Richler is best known for his brilliant depiction of Jewish immigrant life in Montreal in his award-winning novel, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, made into a movie starring Richard Dreyfuss. One of Canada's most celebrated writers, Richler was born into an observant religious family with a rich immigrant tradition. At nineteen he went to live in Paris, in the footsteps of Hemingway, and he stayed in Europe for twenty years, producing five novels, before returning to Canada. The character of Duddy Kravitz—a difficult, funny, nervous and ambitious Jewish boy—made Richler world-famous, while his biting portrait of Jewish life also drew intense criticism. This documentary examines Richler's Jewish identity, its themes in his novels, and his own often difficult relationship to the Jewish community.

57 min. AGE: 14 to Adult

921

GOOD CONVERSATION! A TALK WITH CHAIM POTOK (1997)

Intriguing interview with renowned American Jewish writer, Chaim Potok, author of The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev at his home near Philadelphia. Potok discusses his career as a writer, his love for painting, and how his traditional background discouraged both. He also speaks about what he thinks it means to be a Jew in America and his own religious identity, including his faith in G-d. Potok says that he feels that human beings create meaning in what may otherwise be an indifferent existence. He hopes that his writing will open up new worlds for readers – worlds which they may not otherwise explore and which may affect them positively. Note: Six minutes into the film there is a brief “commercial” for the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York which lasts about two minutes.

20 min.  AGE:  13 to Adult

JHVC

921

ISAAC IN AMERICA  (1986)

Sin

In his interviews and public appearances, Isaac Bashevis Singer presented a humorous and ironic image of himself. While the best-known Yiddish author in the United States, he positioned himself as a renegade standing apart from the "sentimental" tradition of Yiddish literature. Instead, his writings dwelt on folklore, the supernatural, and the lives of refugees cast upon the shores of America. Isaac in America looks at Singer's life and art, from his early days in Warsaw to his acceptance of the Nobel Prize. Singer serves as the guide to his own life, showing us a boarded-up house in Brooklyn where he first lived in America and the former offices of The Forward, which published many of his stories in serial form. We also see excerpts from some of his speaking engagements, and his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

55 min. AGE: 13 to Adult