A scene from Michal Wasczyński’s THE DYBBUK, part of the JEWISH SOUL collection from Kino Lorber Image by Kino Lorber

By PJ Grisar November 24, 2020

Read this article in Yiddish.

Today, 10 fully-restored classics of Yiddish cinema, featuring new commentary tracks and subtitles, will be available in a box set for the first time. But you may not be able to watch them.

“This is coming out strictly on Blu-Ray,” said Allen Lewis Rickman, an actor and Yiddishist who wrote subtitles for nine of the 10 films featured in “The Jewish Soul: Classics of Yiddish Cinema,” released by distributor Kino Lorber. “That’s fine for cineaste types, that’s fine for people that are collectors, for people that need to count Emil Jannings’ nose hairs. But for the vast majority of people, they have a DVD player forever and they’re not gonna upgrade to a Blu-Ray player; there’s no reason to replace all their discs.”

Rickman, along with his wife, Yelena Shmelenson, and collaborator Shane Baker, strives through irreverent performances to make Yiddish culture accessible to non-Yiddish speakers and young people. He thinks Kino Lorber is missing a large part of the market, and that potential audiences — and guaranteed viewers from the Yiddish community — will miss landmarks of Yiddish film, like the horror classic “The Dybbuk;” “Tevya,” starring Yiddish stage legend Maurice Schwartz as the legendary milkman; and the social drama “Overture to Glory,” about a cantor who leaves his synagogue to sing for secular, non-Jewish society.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis has been releasing Yiddish films on home video for years on standard DVD, but they are sold individually for around $30 without commentary tracks. Rickman argues that this box set is not just a better value for a collector at $49.95 for 10 films, but also more comprehensive in its special features. On standard DVD, the price would likely be even lower.

Rickman was working on the new titles for about a year before he learned the collection would be exclusive to Blu-Ray. He understands that if Kino Lorber believes there’s a demand, they will issue the box set on DVD.

PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount