The Gersten-Hoisington Scholar-in-Residence Weekend

Jews and Cinema with Professor Eric Goldman

The TBS Adult and Family Learning Committee is excited to present an entertaining and educational weekend with Professor Eric Goldman. Prof. Goldman will take us on a Jewish journey through film in the twentieth century.

Pre-Weekend Jewish Film Festival

You are invited to watch several films tied to Jewish themes and identity before we Zoom together during the Scholar-in-Residence weekend. More information about discussion groups will be provided in the weekly emails.

• Gentleman’s Agreement (1947) (Available on Amazon Video for $3.99)
• Trumbo (2015) (Available on Amazon Video for $3.99)
• The Way We Were (1973) (Available on Amazon Video for $3.99)

Friday, March 12, 6:15 PM, Friday Night Service and Introductory Lecture:

The American Jewish Story Through Cinema: The Early Years

An introduction to an analysis of select mainstream films from the beginning of the sound era until the 1940s to help build the foundation for an understanding of cinema's portrayal of the American Jewish Experience.

Saturday, March 13

8:30 AM - 9:00 AM, Shabbat Morning Minyan

9:00 AM - 10:30 AM, Lecture: The American Jewish Story Through Cinema: The 1940s through Today

By analyzing select mainstream films from the beginning of the 1940s until today, one can use the medium of cinema to provide an understanding of the American Jewish experience over the last century. The fact that Jews have been so predominant in the movie business makes cinema such a wonderful text for study and analysis. Through film clips and discussion, we will learn how filmmakers created and packaged their own unique concept of the Jew as filtered through their own consciousness.

Saturday Evening Film Discussion: “Avalon” (1990)

Join us for Dr. Goldman’s introduction, screen “Avalon” (1990) on your own, then return for post-screening analysis, Q & A, and discussion groups. (Available on Amazon Video for $3.99)

5:15 PM - 5:30 PM - Zoom Havdalah and Introduction by Dr. Goldman

5:30 PM - 7:30 PM - Dinner and a Movie - Watch Avalon (if you have not watched it already) with take out dinner of your choice.

7:45 PM - 9:30 PM - Zoom Film Discussion with Prof. Goldman

Sunday, March 14, 9:30AM – 11:00 AM, Lecture: Lens on Israel: A Society through its Cinema

Israeli movies provide an intimate insight into Israel’s birth, growth and development as a country. The cinema provides an ideal “lens” by which we gain a greater understanding of Israel’s history, culture and the challenges to its existence. This lecture examines the changing nature of Israeli society as reflected through its cinema.

Register in advance and we will send Zoom links before the weekend starts.

Questions? Please contact: adultlearning@tbsneedham.org

About Professor Eric Goldman

Dr. Eric Goldman is an adjunct professor of cinema at Yeshiva University and is a known scholar and lecturer on Yiddish, Israeli and Jewish film. Eric Goldman received a Ph.D. in Cinema Studies from New York University and graduate degrees in Contemporary Jewish Studies and Theater Arts from Brandeis. He was a fellow of the Max Weinreich Center for Eastern European Jewish Studies at Columbia University, the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis, and adjunct fellow at The Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Eric is the author of “Visions, Images and Dreams: Yiddish Film Past and Present” (Holmes and Meier, 2011) and “The American Jewish Story through Cinema” (University of Texas Press, 2013). He is former director of the Jewish Media Service, which was a national clearinghouse on film and television for the North American Jewish community and was curator of film for the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. In 2014, TCM (Turner Classic Movies) featured a twenty-film series, co-hosted by Dr. Goldman, on "The Jewish Experience in Cinema." Eric has also curated several Jewish film festivals around the world and currently hosts “Jewish Cinematheque” on JBS-TV.