The Independent takes a look at Habonim, the Socialist Zionist youth group that was once home to Mike Leigh, David Baddiel and Sacha Baron Cohen. The Brooklyn Rail revisits the work of Russian Jewish filmmaker Dziga Vertov, on the occasion of a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. Israeli singer Amir Benayoun (profiled in…
Filmmaker Ethan Coen is set to publish his second poetry collection, titled “The Day the World Ends,” next near. Shtetl Magazine reviews “The Joyful Child” by Montreal novelist Norman Ravvin. NPR profiles mother-daughter klezmer duo Elaine Hoffman Watts and Susan Watts. Woody Allen spills the beans on life in show business. The U.S. National Archives…
Sidney Lumet, the acclaimed director more than 50 films, died April 9 in Manhattan at the age of 86. Best known for taut psychodramas such as “Serpico” (1973), “Dog Day Afternoon” (1975), “Network” (1976) and “The Verdict” (1982), Lumet’s work demonstrated an enduring interest in social realism and the difficulty of obtaining justice, a concern…
A version of this post appeared in Yiddish. On March 12 the Yiddish theater lost one of its most beloved stars. Shifra Lerer, an Argentine-born actress who toured the world and who later appeared in films by Woody Allen and Sidney Lumet, died in Manhattan at the age of 95. I met Shifra during my…
The latest issue of Habitus features eight poems by Esther Dischereit. The winners of the 2011 Rappaport Prize, a one million dollar award given annually to two Israel painters, have been announced. Woodie Allen talks about his controversial marriage. Cynthia Ozick accepts the Jewish Book Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Philip Glass is so prolific that…
For many Jews and non-Jews, American Jewish culture is defined by stereotypes such as the pushy mother, the shleppy father, chopped liver swans, too much food (“just in case…”) accountants, doctors, and holidays in the Catskills or Florida. But a new generation of Jews are so hip, Americanized and assimilated that they are not even…
Earlier this week, Saul Austerlitz wrote about his recent author tour and five not-as-terrible-as-you-think movies. His blog posts are being featured this week on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog series. For more information on the series, please visit: One of the trickiest aspects of writing…
Is literature being dropped from Israeli curricula? Simon Sebag-Montefiore writes a “biography” of Jerusalem. After a 45 year retreat from the public eye, Abstract Expressionist painter Abraham Yurberg has a new exhibit. Woody Allen’s new film “Midnight in Paris” is set to open this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Liel Leibovitz ruminates on the legacy of…
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