Maven's Jewish & Israeli Documentaries
The Best Documentaries with primarily Jewish and/or Israeli Themes. Recommended for both English Speaking Jews & non-Jews interested in the Traditions, History, Comedy, Arts and Culture of the Jewish People. Also see:
Maven's Jewish & Israeli Jewels for popular movies, Maven's Jewish Essentials, Select Jewish-Israeli non-English Movies and Animated Jewish & Bible Stories
Maven's Jewish & Israeli Jewels for popular movies, Maven's Jewish Essentials, Select Jewish-Israeli non-English Movies and Animated Jewish & Bible Stories
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- StarsTim Pigott-SmithKing HusseinShimon PeresDecision-makers from Israel, the Arab states, Russia and the US tell the inside story of the Arab-Israel conflict. Charts the evolution of tensions, violence and peace efforts from 1948 to 1998.
- StarsLiev SchreiberCarl ReinerSid CaesarAcclaimed filmmaker David Grubin traces 350 years of Jewish American history, from the arrival of the first Jews in 1654 up to the present day. THE JEWISH AMERICANS tells the story of the struggle of a tiny minority to make their way into the American mainstream while, at the same time, maintaining a sense of their own identity as Jews. Focusing on the tension between identity and assimilation, THE JEWISH AMERICANS is a quintessentially American story, which other minority groups will find surprisingly familiar.
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsMichael DouglasAnkie SpitzerJamal Al GasheyThe Palestinian terrorist group Black September holds Israeli athletes hostage at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich.
- DirectorMenachem DaumOren RudavskyStarsLeonard NimoySarah Jessica ParkerZeldy AbromowitzHasidic Jews seem alien, and even hostile, to those outside their culture,which frequently includes other Jews. They dress differently, don't mingle between the sexes, speak Yiddish, and wear side curls, all in an attempt to rigorously follow the commandments of the Torah. They tend to keep to themselves, shunning television and the media so outside influences cannot corrupt their values and views. Yet filmmakers Oren Rudavsky and Menachem Daum were able to enter their world, and the result is the fascinating documentary A Life Apart: Hasidism in America. Using interviews with academics and members of the community and some historical footage, the filmmakers trace the growth of Hasidic groups in the United States. Groups formed around particular Rebbes (learned leaders) and they took their names from their Eastern European home cities (the Satmar Hasids, the Breslov Hasids, and so on). Leonard Nimoy and Sarah Jessica Parker narrate, explaining how this movement came to America and how it was able to flourish. Dissenting voices also appear, in the form of neighborhood people who are distressed at the Hasids' refusal to speak to members not in their community and of a young woman, Pearl Gluck, who left the community in order to pursue her writing and to follow a life of her own choosing. Many Hasids refuse to speak on camera, and we see many shielding themselves with hands or coats so as not to appear on film. But those who do appear are poignant in their discussions of why the Hasidic life is important to them. One man speaks to the directors, even as he acknowledges that he will never see the movie, but he will do it "in order to help a Jew make a living." One couple, Holocaust survivors, are not Hasidic, but their children are, and the reasonings of both the parents and the children are interesting. This film, shown on PBS, is a consequential look into a lifestyle many of us don't understand, and it may help in increasing an understanding.
- DirectorAndrew GoldbergStarsJudy Woodruff
- StarsLinda HuntSamuel WestGert HeidenreichThe history of the Final Solution phase of the Nazi Holocaust, particularly with the most infamous of the death camps.
- DirectorIra WohlStarsIra WohlPhilip WohlZero MostelIn this documentary, the director follows the day-to-day activities of his mentally ill, middle-aged cousin Philly, over a three-year period.
- DirectorDimitri CollingridgeStarsRichard Littlejohn
- StarsAbba Eban
- DirectorKaren PascalStarsSonja SmitsVera van der Wijk YehrosJan HofTwo Canadian women return to the Netherlands to recount the terrifying ordeal they experienced as children at the hands of the Nazis, and to connect with the individuals and families who risked their lives to save them.
- 20041h 37mUnrated7.8 (168)67MetascoreDirectorMenachem DaumOren RudavskyStarsAkiva DaumMenachem DaumRifka DaumMenachem Daum, the son of holocaust survivors, and a New York Orthodox Jew worries that both of his sons, full time yeshiva students who live with their families in Israel, are becoming seduced to intolerance by their religious studies. "All religions today are in danger of being hijacked by extremists." To open their perspectives just a little he sets off with his wife, Rifka, and both sons, Tzvi Dovid and Akiva, to visit the Polish towns where his parents grew up and to try to find the Catholic farmers who hid his father-in-law from the Germans. Enduring the bemused tolerance of his sons, Menachem persists until they find Honorata Matuszezyk Mucha who as a young woman brought food nightly to Rifka's father and his two brothers for 28 months until the end of World War II. The Daum sons perspectives widen a bit to allow for good Gentiles, but they also encounter some resentment from the Poles who heard no word from the three brothers after they left their hiding place, not even a postcard with a thank you. A lot of issues are surfaced but left unresolved in this well crafted documentary.
- StarsSimon WiesenthalStephen RashbrookHans MünchUnder the guidance of Simon Wiesenthal, documents the year-long process leading up to 'the Final Solution' using newly accessible Eastern European archives, first-hand eyewitness accounts and world renowned historians.
- DirectorTed NewsomStarsAdolf HitlerOskar SchindlerDocumentary describing the rise of Nazi Germany and the resultant Holocaust, with a focus on the lives of two Germans with vastly different attitudes and agendas, Oskar Schindler and Adolf Hitler.
- DirectorDaniel AnkerStarsGene HackmanNorma BarzmanJack BennyThe history of Hollywood's handling of the Nazis and its later depiction of the Holocaust they perpetrated.
- DirectorRichard TrankStarsMichael DouglasEhud BarakShimon PeresIn Search of Peace: 1948-1967 chronicles Israel's first two decades, offering new insights on the origins of the Middle East conflict. Combining a rich tapestry of rare archival film and photos, the film offers a unique global perspective on one of the seminal events in the 3,500-year history of the Jewish people. Featuring the voices of Edward Asner, Anne Bancroft, Richard Dreyfuss, Miriam Margolyes and Michael York. "An unabashedly emotional and stirring inspirational history of Israel..." - The New York Times
- DirectorHerb KrosneyStarsMartin GilbertDavid Ben-GurionSir Martin Gilbert, author of over sixty books and the host of A&E's JERUSALEM, hosts this gripping account of Israel's difficult first years. Filled with rare footage, photographs, and interviews with participants in the War of Independence, this is the definitive document of one of the turning points in modern history. Extraordinary footage filmed by Bernard Beecham, a British soldier, shows the reality of life in the fledgling nation, when all efforts were devoted toward winning the war.
- DirectorAllen EstrinTerror bombing after terror bombing, day after day. Never has a nation had to endure such attacks. A sidewalk café becomes as dangerous as a military outpost. A simple trip to the supermarket becomes a horror of flying nails, glass and death. How do Israelis deal with this pervasive terror? How do they explain their near-solitude in the world? How do they really feel about Arabs? These are some of the questions that one of America's most respected thinkers, Dennis Prager, went to Israel to find answers to.
- DirectorCarl BykerMitch WilsonStarsF. Murray AbrahamRene AuberjonoisJake BorowskiIn 586 B.C., the Babylonians lead almost all that remains of the tribe of Judah - the Israelites - to exile in Babylon. Only a few generations earlier, the northern tribes of the Israelites were taken into exile and vanished forever. Now the Judeans, too, seem destined to disappear. They fight back, however, by writing a book. Using Judean stories from the past to explain present disastrous situations, the book becomes the earliest edition of the most influential work in history: the Bible. This episode introduces the early and profoundly influential figures of Judaism: Abraham, who is the first to recognize the concept of one God; Moses, who receives the Ten Commandments from God; and David, whose sins teach the Israelites that no one is above the law of God.
- StarsD. Paul ThomasAdolf HitlerSusan CanedyA history of the Nazi movement in the United States.
- DirectorJason HuttStarsDmitriy SalitaJimmy O'PharrowIsrael LiberowFor the last 60 years, the term "Jewish boxer" has been an oxymoron. But Dmitriy Salita, a 25 year-old Russian immigrant is making history as a top professional boxer and a rigorously observant Jew.
- DirectorLisa KorsStarsIda AbudyLilian AbudyHerbert HexterThree teenage girls decide to become Orthodox Jewish against the wishes of their secular parents. In a twist on teenage rebellion, these girls wish to study Torah, dress in conservative skirts and keep Kosher while their parents wish them to go out, date boys and live a less cloistered life.
- DirectorCarla Blair
- DirectorElliot BerlinJoe FabStarsSandra RobertsDagmar Schroeder-HildebrandTom BosleyAs a part of their study of the Holocaust, the children of the Whitwell, TN Middle School try to collect 6 million paper clips representing the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis, and grows to include millions of others killed.
- DirectorIlana TrachtmanStarsLior LieblingPraying with Lior asks whether someone with Down syndrome can be a spiritual genius. Many believe Lior is close to God -- at least that's what his family and community believe -- though he's also a burden, a best friend, an inspiration and an embarrassment, depending on who is asked and when. As this documentary moves to its climax, Lior must pass through the gateway to manhood - his Bar Mitzvah.
- DirectorGene RosowStarsPaul Frees
- DirectorSlawomir GrunbergIn 1940, a year before the Nazis started deporting Jews to death camps, Joseph Stalin ordered the deportation of approximately 200,000 Polish Jews from Russian-occupied Eastern Poland to forced labor settlements in the Soviet interior. As cruel as Stalin's deportations were, ultimately they largely saved Jewish lives, for the deportees constituted the overwhelming majority of Polish Jews who escaped the Nazi Holocaust. "Saved by Deportation" not only tells this story, but it re-traces the path Asher and Shyfra Scharf traveled more than 60 years ago from Poland to Siberia to the former Soviet states of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia. It is in those largely Muslim societies, in the cities of Kuhjand, Jeezax and Samarkand, that the film demonstrates a remarkable spirit as the Scharfs are welcomed by the locals who recall fondly the sojourn of Polish refugees in their midst. This little-known story of survival is both a harrowing adventure and an affirmation of human goodness during a time of great darkness.
- DirectorErik NelsonStarsRichard BaerMichael BerenbaumEileen BlankenbakerShows historical photographs not found until 1978 describing the atrocities at Auschwitz along with the carefree activities of those that committed them.
- DirectorMichel MeesFrom Auschwitz to Jerusalem tells the story of Jewish children. Hidden children, often converted to the catholic religion so they could survive the genocide. After the war, many of them, who had become orphans, were collected by the Jewish Agency and placed in reception centres in Belgium. This was the beginning for them of a long trip, real as well as symbolic, searching for their lost Jewish identity. A trip which would clandestinely lead them all the way to Palestine.
- DirectorDana Janklowicz-MannAmir MannStarsStephen ChangIrene EberBetty GrebenschikoffStripped of possessions and rights, German and Eastern European Jews flee to an unlikely destination to avoid persecution from the Nazis.
- DirectorPierre-Henry SalfatiStarsFéodor AtkineIn this documentary, director Pierre-Henry Salfati traces the history of the Talmud, the repository of millennia of Jewish wisdom.
- DirectorSimcha JacoboviciStuart SamuelsStarsNeal GablerR.H. ThomsonJ. HobermanThe history of the influence of Eastern European Jewish Emigre culture has had on Hollywood and the films created in its golden age.
- DirectorJames MollStarsBill BaschMartin BaschRandolph BrahamIn late 1944, even as they faced imminent defeat, the Nazis expended enormous resources to kill or deport over 425,000 Jews during the "cleansing" of Hungary. This Oscar-winning documentary, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, focuses on the plight of five Hungarian Jews who survived imprisonment in Auschwitz.
- DirectorAviva KempnerStarsReeve BrennerHank GreenbergWalter MatthauThe life and career of Hank Greenberg, the first major Jewish baseball star in the Major Leagues.
- DirectorChristian BauerStarsMichael HanrahanWerner AngressVictor BrombertHolocaust survivors share their story of fleeing to the United States, joining the US Army, training in Military Intelligence, and returning to Europe to end Nazism by using their linguistic abilities.
- DirectorAmram NowakStarsRobert BlumenfeldGordon GrinbergAvi HoffmanComprehensive two-part PBS series that tells the fascinating true story of 250 years of Jewish immigration in America.
- 2006– 3 eps7.2 (86)TV Series
- 20071h 45mPG-137.9 (741)59MetascoreDirectorRichard TrankStarsNicole KidmanSimon WiesenthalAsher BenNatanA documentary on the Austrian-Jewish architectural engineer who became a Nazi hunter after surviving the Holocaust.
- DirectorWilly LindwerStarsSimon Wiesenthal
- DirectorArnold SchwartzmanStarsElizabeth TaylorOrson WellesSimon WiesenthalOrson Welles and Elizabeth Taylor compassionately narrate this harrowing documentary about Jewish persecution in Nazi Germany, which soon turned into a notoriously industrious plan to wipe them from existence.
- DirectorArnold SchwartzmanStarsBen KingsleyMiriam MargolyesPatrick StewartLiberation tells the dramatic story of the battle waged on two fronts during World War II - the Allied campaign to liberate Europe and Hitler's genocidal campaign against the Jews.
- DirectorRichard TrankStarsKevin CostnerDyab Abou JahjahMilo AdonerEver Again examines the sweeping resurgence of antisemitism in 21st century Europe and its connection to global terrorism.
- DirectorKaren CantorCamilla KjærulffStarsGarrison KeillorFilmmakers Karen Cantor and Camilla Kjaerilff team to reveal how the Jews of Denmark managed to escape falling victim to Hitler's Third Reich.
- DirectorRobert KirkStarsSusan BlumanBenjamin FishoffNeil RossThe story of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, consul to Lithuania during World War II, who defied Tokyo authorities and wrote transit visas allowing Jewish families to flee Europe to Japan and other countries.
- 200547m6.1 (197)TV MovieDirectorLauren LazinStarsZach BraffRyan GoslingKate HudsonBrings to life the diaries of young people who witnessed first-hand the horrors of the Holocaust. Through an emotional montage of archival footage, personal photos, and text from the diaries themselves, the film celebrates a group of brave, young writers who refused to quietly disappear.
- DirectorMark Jonathan HarrisStarsJudi DenchLory CahnKurt FuchelThe secret smuggling of 9,300 Jewish children out of Nazi Germany in the late 1930s.
- DirectorMelissa HackerStarsEddie BetterSonnie BetterErika EstisAccording to Hulu's offering, this documentary (from 1966) is "a Powerful account of an astonishing slice of Holocaust history, told with poignant intimacy by the daughter of a survivor. On the eve of WWII, Jewish children boarded trains taking them to refuge in London, many never to see their parents again.
- DirectorOren JacobyCelebrates Sister Rose Thering, for 67 years a Dominican nun. Her passion is anti-Semitism. Archival footage looks at her growing up in Wisconsin and taking the veil in her teens. Interviews with scholars and common people capture the extent to which "Christ killers" was a standard Catholic description of Jews. Sister Rose's research at Saint Louis University in the 1950s into the presentation of Jews within Catholic educational materials leads to the publication of "Nostra Aetate," a document released in 1965 by the Second Vatican Council. Since that time, she's dedicated herself to eradicating anti-Semitism. The film ends with a critique of Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ."
- DirectorMichèle OhayonStarsJ.P. GillainJeroen KrabbéMarieke OudejansThe true story of the troubled marriage of Jaap and Manja Polak, who lived in German occupied Amsterdam. During the war, Jaap met and fell in love with Ina Soep.
- DirectorJohn MichalczykStarsDonald WinningArthur CaplanDonald DietrichIn the Shadow of the Reich: Nazi Medicine examines the step-by-step process that led the German medical profession down an unethical road to genocide.
- StarsJack FuchsLiza Zajak-NoveraRobert LambergAbout the gruesome details from eyewitness accounts of the atrocities committed in the name of Nazi Germany. In many instances, the local police, were the perpetrators, operating under orders from the Eitsanzgruppen-SS.
- DirectorLisa GosselsDean WetherellStarsNorbert BikalesWolfie BlumenreichRene CastilleIn the spirit of Louis Malle's "Au Revoir les Enfants" and Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List," the Emmy® Award-winning film "The Children of Chabannes" (93 minutes), has been praised as "splendid, informative and emotionally involving" (Los Angeles Times) and called "a seamless memoir of courage and a tribute to the human spirit." (New York Daily News). A magical World War II tale of resilience and love, "The Children of Chabannes" reveals the previously untold story of how the people in a tiny village in unoccupied France chose action over indifference to save the lives of 400 Jewish refugee children. Returning to the forgotten corner of France with her father and uncle (two of the saved children), filmmaker Lisa Gossels and co-director Dean Wetherell movingly recreated the joys and fears of daily life in Chabannes during the war. Through warm and wonderful accounts from the educators, townspeople and from the children themselves, we see how this oasis of hope is shattered in August of 1942, when the war reaches the doorsteps of the crumbling chateau where the children lived. A celebration of human kindness, "The Children of Chabannes" delivers a profound message of tolerance. The film documents the remarkable efforts made by the citizens of Chabannes, who risked their lives and livelihoods to protect these children, simply because they felt it was the right thing to do.
- DirectorRobert PrinceStarsHenry WitteJohn WitteDiet EmanExplore the dramatic wartime lives of four Dutch citizens who took a stand to protect Jews and resist the overwhelming power of the Nazis during World War II. This inspiring documentary tells their stories of fear and courage, danger and faith as they put their lives on the line to do what they thought was right. Featuring four participants in the Dutch Resistance who now make their home in America, Making Choices reveals what motivated them to risk everything to protect total strangers and the heavy price they paid for challenging the Nazis.
- StarsMorgan FreemanDouglas GreenbergSteven Spielberg11 minute introduction to the Visual History Foundation and the work being done to document and archive the first-person histories of the remaining Survivors of the Shoah.
- DirectorJ. MichelsenStarsAlbrecht Becker
- DirectorPierre SauvageStarsPeter BergsonMost Americans--even many American Jews--believe that we didn't know. Many assume that we couldn't have done anything about the massacre of the Jews of Europe during World War II even if we had known. Meet Peter Bergson. A militant Jew from pre-Israel Palestine, Bergson led a controversial American effort to fight the Holocaust. This is his testimony.
- DirectorJonathan L. BarkanStarsDwight D. EisenhowerFred GrassoJoe HansonUsing contemporaneous interviews and rare archival footage, the story of the liberation of the Nazi camps is told through the eyes of the American soldiers who were there.
- DirectorDavid PadruschStarsAaron AngelloScott AshbyOrion BarnesIn one of the most hostile lands on the planet, an ancient people called the Israelites forged an army and carved out an empire. Their ancient military exploits are described in one of history's most famous religious texts; the old testament of the Bible. But by reading between the religious lines, ancient military historians unlock the soldier's secrets of the bible by examining the weapons, the strategies; and the commanders, some of whom are unlikely warriors, like Abraham, Moses, and Deborah. Bible Battles is a two hour hi-definition special that explores the biblical world from a military perspective from the time of Abraham, approximately 1500 BC, until David's ascension to the throne, around 1000 BC. Using graphic battle re-creations choreographed by a Hollywood sword master, Bible Battles brings to life some of the most famous stories of the Bible, like the Exodus, the battle of Jericho, and David's fight against Goliath; as well as more obscure stories like Abraham's surprise nighttime raid against the Chaldeans, Gideon's battle against the Midianites, and Jonathan's daring attack against a Philistine outpost. Blood often flows more freely than holy water in the days of the Old Testament, and the military secrets of the Bible have yet to be revealed; until now.
- DirectorAlex Nikolic-DunlopStarsYehudi BauerDavid CesaraniMartin GilbertFollow the route used by Vrba and Wetzler in their "great feat of escapology" when fleeing the Auschwitz death camps.
- DirectorClaude LanzmannStarsSimon SrebnikMichael PodchlebnikMotke ZaïdlClaude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.
- 1987–7.5 (71)TV EpisodeDirectorMarty OstrowStarsHal LindenAs the campaign to force Jews out of Germany ramps up, the American government blocks efforts to help rescue many of these displaced persons, and Americans' antisemitism only seems to get worse.
- DirectorBob HerculesCheri PughStarsEva Mozes KorSami AdwanDan Bar-OnEva Mozes Kor, who survived Josef Mengele's cruel twin experiments in the Auschwitz concentration camp, shocks other Holocaust survivors when she decides to forgive the perpetrators as a way of self-healing.
- DirectorBill CunninghamStarsWilliam StevensonMenachem BeginDavid Ben-GurionOn June 5, 1967, the Israeli airforce attacked Arab air bases and Israeli tanks overran their enemies with total surprise.The Israeli plan was called "Strike Zion" and it nearly immobilized opposition air power and destroyed enemy forces in one of the most important battles in history.
- DirectorEliyahu Ungar-SargonStarsRon LowCut explores the underlying medical, religious and ethical issues that surround male infant circumcision, and is an important resource for anyone who wants a thorough understanding of the practice.
- DirectorChuck OlinStarsPeter ThomasMike NussbaumNicholas RudallThe story of the only all-Jewish fighting force in World War II.
- DirectorDana DoronUriel SinaiStarsGita KalderonZoka LevyDanny ChanochSeries involving 2 smart brothers solving crimes.
- DirectorDror MorehStarsAmi AyalonAvraham ShalomAvi DichterA documentary featuring interviews with all surviving former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency whose activities and membership are closely held state secrets.
- DirectorIlan ZivStarsYaron LondonJohn TarzwellLevi EshkolThe shooting lasted on six tense days in June 1967, but the Six Day War has never really ended. Every crisis that has ripped through this region in the ensuing decades stems from those six fateful days. On its 40th anniversary, the region remains trapped in conflict and is every bit as explosive as it was in 1967. "Six Days" chronicles the events of forty years ago with a fresh historical perspective. Beginning with the buildup for the war, and the political and military maneuvering of Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and Egyptian President Jame Adel Nasser, the film takes us through the six days of fighting, the war with Jordan, the occupation of the West Bank and the annexation of Jerusalem. Featuring stunning archival footage and first-hand accounts of the war from both the Israeli and Arab soldiers who fought it, "Six Days" explores how these events became the flash point in history that reshaped the regional political landscape, destroyed old systems and brought new forces to the surface. Rarely in modern times has so short and localized a conflict had such profound global consequences.
- DirectorAviva KempnerStarsGertrude BergLewis BergSara ChaseThe story of the actress, writer, and broadcasting pioneer Gertrude Berg.
- DirectorMary SkinnerStarsIrena SendlerowaJan Becker95-year-old Polish heroine Irena Sendler tells the unknown story of a conspiracy of women who outwitted the Nazis and rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto during WWII.
- DirectorEyal SherStarsJanet AlmogMichel BacosEhud BarakThe story of the hijacking of Air France Flight AF139 on 27 June 1976 from Athens and the subsequent mission to rescue the hostages from the airport terminal at Entebbe in Uganda. The movie contains interviews with former hostages, including Captain Bacos who (together with his crew) refused to abandon his passengers as well those who planned the rescue mission and those executed it.
- DirectorJames MollStarsVivian DelmanMonika HertwigReinhardt Hertwig"Inheritance" is the story of Monika Hertwig and her journey to accept the truth about her father, Nazi commander Amon Goeth, who was portrayed by actor Ralph Fiennes in "Schindler's List." As part of Monika's search for information, she reaches out to Helen Jonas-Rosenzweig, a woman Monika's father enslaved during the war. Over 60 years after Monika's father was executed for his war crimes, in a historic and painful moment, these two women meet, bringing closure, yet raising new questions.
- DirectorAndrew QuigleySteven SilverA documentary about a group of disparate people in Israel and the Occupied Territories, all connected by a single catastrophic suicide bomb.
- DirectorToby Perl FreilichInventing Our Life examines the 100 year history of Israel's kibbutz movement, one of the world's longest running and most successful experiments in pure communism. Recreating its glorious past and chronicling its recent decline, Inventing Our Life focuses on the heartbreak and hope of the modern kibbutz, as a new generation struggles to insure its survival. Can a radically socialist institution survive a new market-driven reality with its ideological integrity intact? How will this affect the lives of the tens of thousands of people who still believe in the kibbutz experiment and continue to call it home? As the film progresses, the drama shifts from Can it survive? to Yes, but at what price?
- DirectorBen CrosbieTessa MoranChronicling the changing kibbutz through the eyes of some of its most devoted members, Keeping the Kibbutz examines the challenges faced by a community in transition. While some members faced heartbreak, others found new opportunities, and the kibbutz marched toward an inevitable end. A story about nostalgia, the effects of communal living and the hope for what lies ahead, Keeping the Kibbutz captures the lingering ghost of a movement left behind.
- DirectorDieter HildebrandtStarsAlexander ScourbyHolger HagenHelga Mayer-MaynardWith a great archive footage coming from 16 countries, this Oscar nominated documentary briefly presents some of the most important facts about the Nazist persecution against Jews in Europe, starting with Hitler's rise to the power.
- DirectorLaurel ChitenStarsRodger KamenetzTells how Roger Kamenetz, author of the best-selling 1994 book by the same title, found his way back to Judaism - the tradition of his birth.
- DirectorBarry AvrichStarsJackie MasonPowerful inside look at legendary comedian Jackie Mason's final Broadway performance.
- StarsLiad ChocznerAbraham CohenEli CohenIn anticipation of a war with its Arab neighbors Israel spent years planning and refining its war plans and techniques. This program describes in some detail the elements of the plans that were critical to Israel's victory in the 1967 six day war.
- The Roman siege of Masada in 70 A.D is recreated to separate fact from myth. The length and difficulty of the siege, which group of Jews were involved and whether they committed mass suicide are especially questioned.
- DirectorHenning SchellerupStarsWilliam DevaneJesse BennettWayne BrennanJesus Christ is the center of the worldwide Christian faith. Is there any historical, archaeological, or scientific confirmation that Jesus did in fact live and grow to manhood in the obscure Judean village of Nazareth? Is Jesus Christ the living Son of God? Or a myth sustained for 2,000 years? The astonishing evidence for the life of Christ is explored in light of recent discoveries.
- DirectorAndrew GoldbergStarsDeeana CopelandAlan DershowitzWilliam G. DeverFrom slavery to the loss of a homeland; from exile to anti-Semitism; from pogroms to near annihilation in the Holocaust, how did the Jews endure while so many other communities vanished?
- DirectorMichael MayhewStarsSteven SpielbergLeon LeysonLeopold RosnerDocumentary film produced for the 10th anniversary release of the film Schindler's List (1993) and the establishment of the "Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation"
- StarsJean SimmonsRichard KileyDavid WolpeMysteries Of The Bible is one of our most successful and enduring series, a fascinating and award-winning exploration of the scriptures that blends historical inquiry with theology and scientific analysis to add a new chapter to our understanding of one of the most important documents on earth.Multiple-episodes in this TV-Series
- StarsRichard KileyJean SimmonsMultiple-episodes in this TV-Series
- StarsSamuel WestAdolf BuchnerJutta RüdigerAn examination of how a cultured people could have allowed Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
- DirectorWayne KoppingStarsGeorge W. BushNonie DarwishAlan DershowitzObsession is a film about the threat of Radical Islam to Western civilization. Using unique footage from Arab television, it reveals an 'insider's view' of the hatred the Radicals are teaching, their incitement of global jihad, and their goal of world domination. The film also traces the parallels between the Nazi movement of World War II, the Radicals of today, and the Western world's response to both threats. Featuring interviews with Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson, Alan Dershowitz, a former PLO terrorist, and a former Hitler Youth Commander.
- DirectorMark HufnailIt is the second largest of the world's great religions, and the fastest growing. Its name comes from the word for peace, yet to many Westerners it is synonymous with terror. INSIDE ISLAM lifts the veil of mystery surrounding a misunderstood faith. Trace its roots back to the Hebrew Bible and discover how the Five Pillars, the religion's central tenets, helped spread Islam to the far corners of the world. Find out what the Qu'Ran says about war, violence and suicide, and how these words have been co-opted by extremists. And hear from experts like Khaled Abou el Fadl (author of Speaking in God's Name), who explore the challenges facing Islam today, including a crisis of authority and deep divisions among many sects. Illuminating, important and objective, INSIDE ISLAM exposes the heart of a faith mired in controversy.
- DirectorPearl GluckStarsPearl GluckAmichai Lau LavieBasya SchechterDivan is the quest for a turn of the century Hungarian couch upon which Hassidic rabbis slept.
- DirectorTore SjöbergStarsClaude StephensonHenning SkaarupMogens WiethDocuments the major trial of the Nazi war criminals and the violent acts that they were accused of.
- DirectorLiz GarbusStarsEdith Hahn BeerJulia OrmondSusan SarandonEdith Han was an outspoken young woman studying law in Vienna when the Gestapo forced Edith and her mother into a Jewish ghetto. Edith was taken away to a labor camp, and when she returned home months later, she found her mother had been deported. Knowing she would become a hunted woman, Edith went underground, scavenging for food and searching each night for a safe place to sleep. Her boyfriend, Pepi, proved too terrified to help her, but a Christian friend was not. Using the woman's identity papers, Edith fled to Munich. There she met Werner Vetter, a Nazi Party member who fell in love with her. Despite her protests and even her eventual confession that she was Jewish, he married her and kept her identity a secret.
- DirectorSeth KramerStarsAlexander BogenVitka KovnerMiles LermanIn this group memoir, eleven men and women, now in their 70s and 80s, recount their battle against the Nazis in Poland, Lithuania, and Belorussia from 1941 to 1945. They chronicle their battle for survival and then for revenge, speak about the almost insolvable dilemmas facing Jewish partisans, and discuss the emotional aftermath following their victory over the Nazis.
- DirectorShahar CohenHalil EfratAn unemployed film director hears strange things from his father: while serving in the legendary Jewish Brigade in the Second World War his father, now eighty-two, may have left some flesh and blood "souvenirs" to the Dutch girls. Here starts Sleiman and Sahar's journey together from Israel to the Netherlands, a real road-movie. The father follows his earlier path through the war-ravaged Europe, and the son traces his father's wartime girlfriends and the possible consequences of the affairs.
- DirectorSimcha JacoboviciStarsSimcha JacoboviciTrue story of the plight & persecution of Ethiopian Jewry (Black Jews) and of Operation Moses, which was organized in response, transporting thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel by means of secret airlifts from Sudan.
- DirectorCarole BasriAdriana DavisBryan DurrThe Last Jews of Baghdad takes a historical and personal look at the persecution, torture, escape and exodus of over 160,000 Iraqi- Jews between the years 1940 through 2003. Hear from the survivors the real reasons why they left their beloved homeland of over 2500 years and if they will ever return.
- DirectorNoam PinchasYoni ZiglerFor many years now, traveling to India has been a rite of passage in Israeli life. We hear so much about the Israelis in India that we sometimes forget there are actually Indians living there. Hummus Curry offers an intimate look into the lives of the local Indians living in a small village packed with Israeli tourists. Up in the Himalaya Mountains resides the village of Bhagsu, the rainiest place in all of India. During the hard winter the rain never stops & Bhagsu does not get a whiff of tourism. Kala Kumar (28), feeling bored, spends the slow monsoon days with his family, doing little within the fresh brick walls of his new guesthouse. In April the sun comes out for the first time and Bhagsu is awakened to life. Another season starts and the village is flooded with Israeli backpackers once again. Shoresh Singh (22) buzzes around the many Israelis filling his small shack, serving them the famous Israeli dish - 'Jachnon-Hamin'. Just like the average Israeli, he never stops complaining about his business, speaking in broken Hebrew, quoting lines taken from Israeli cult movies he's never seen. In one of the restaurants we meet Gopal Sharma (29), a charming waiter who gets along easily with the Israeli girls, especially with Shirley, with whom he's flirting at the restaurant's counter. Is there a chance for a love affair between the Hummus and the Curry or will Shirley lose her courage and leave just like the others? Will Shoresh win the battle against the local Jewish missionaries in the war of who will host the greatest Israeli New-Year's dinner? How does the presence of the new houseguests affect Kala & his family, especially the relationship between him and his newly wed wife - a relationship that slowly unfolds during the film? Hummus Curry contains no interviews and the presence of the camera goes unfelt. This viewing experience takes us through intimate, funny and moving scenes that surprise the viewers time and time again. Rain drops turn into tear drops and we are given a unique opportunity to see the Israeli culture, through the eyes of the Indians.
- DirectorKristi JacobsonStarsMaury AllenDave AndersonYogi BerraThe '40s and '50s were a classic period in New York City nightlife, when the saloonkeeper was king and regular folks could drink with celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Jackie Gleason. In this documentary, Kristi Jacobson profiles her grandfather, the king of kings: Toots Shor of the eponymous restaurant and saloon, which was once the place to be seen in Manhattan.
- DirectorJean-Francois FernandezKaren NathansonThis film is both an intimate family portrait and a fascinating ethnographic study of Bene Israel, one of the three groups of Jews living in India today.
- DirectorErik Greenberg AnjouStarsAlan DershowitzJackie MasonChazz'n, A Cantor's Story is a documentary film about chazzanut past, present and future through the prism of Chazzan Jack Mendelson's career. In addition to stellar singing, the film visits a bar-mitzvah at the legendary Beth El Synagogue in Borough Park, Brooklyn and interviews are seen with luminaries such as ben-Zion Miller, Mati lazar, Alberto Mizrahi, Alan Dershowitz, Neil Shicoff and Dr. Larry Hoffman.