Concerned for the preservation and effective educational use of a priceless legacy from the recent Jewish past, the Jewish Media Service of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds and the American Jewish Historical Society have together acquired the largest existing collection of films to have been made in the Yiddish language.
Hitherto in private hands, the collection includes such classics as “The Dybbuk,” “The Vow,” “Tevye,” “Mirelle Efros,” “Uncle Moses,” and “Green Fields,” along with 25 other feature-length films made in Poland and the United States during the 1930s and ’40s.
Jerold C. Hoffberger, CJF president, called the Yiddish films “a priceless treasure” in hailing their acquisition. “They are unique and irreplaceable,” he stated. “The benefits in the enrichment of Jewish life and American life are Incalculable, in the numbers who will see the films and in the timelessness of this treasure. We are deeply grateful to the persons whose gifts made this possible.”
FUNDED BY DEDICATED INDIVIDUALS
Prints and negatives of all the films will be deposited in sealed archives for permanent safe-keeping and scholarly use. At the same time, films selected for their outstanding educational or entertainment value will undergo extensive technical rehabilitation and be supplied with new English subtitles. Multiple copies of these films will be made for wide-scale circulation in the Jewish community and beyond.
The acquisition of these films was funded by a few dedicated individuals. Charles and Isa Rutenberg of Clearwater, Fla., and Henry and Edith Everett of Brooklyn, N.Y., for whom the collection will be named. Additional contributions have been made by individuals in Cleveland, Boston and Worcester, Mass., and the Workmen’s Circle.
These funds are being used to begin the expensive technical renovations. Some assistance will be provided by the government-sponsored American Film Institute and the Library of Congress, but more private funds will be needed. The Rutenberg and Everett Yiddish Film Collection will establish the first communal film archive for North American Jewry.
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