Inside Dirty Dancing: A Conversation with Screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein
Eleanor Bergstein was a teenage mambo queen whose family summers at Grossinger's inspired her screenplay for Dirty Dancing, the 1987 film set in a Catskills resort in the summer of 1963. The first film to sell more than a million copies on home video and the source of two multi-platinum albums, Dirty Dancing is beloved by multiple generations of fans, and still resonates with contemporary audiences some 34 years later. Eleanor Bergstein shares stories from her life and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the creation of the film and stage musical, as well as insights into Dirty Dancing's enduring popularity. Ms. Bergstein was in conversation with Lauren Gilbert, Senior Manager for Public Services at the Center for Jewish History.
This program is funded, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. It took place on September 13, 2021.
Ben Hecht: Fighting Words, Moving Pictures
Pauline Kael called him “the greatest American screenwriter.” Jean-Luc Godard said he was “a genius” who “invented 80% of what is used in Hollywood movies today.” With credits that include Scarface, Twentieth Century and Notorious, novelist, reporter, and playwright Ben Hecht also emerged during WWII as an outspoken crusader for the imperiled Jews of Europe and later became a fierce propagandist for pre-1948 Palestine’s Jewish terrorist underground.
Adina Hoffman spoke with Phillip Lopate on February 12, 2019 at the Center for Jewish History about her new biography of this charismatic and contradictory figure, who came to embody much that defined America—especially Jewish America—in his time.
A look into the film digitization process in the Archival Processing Lab at the Center for Jewish History.
The Jewish Museum and Film at Lincoln Center continue their partnership for the New York Jewish Film Festival, presenting films from around the world that explore the Jewish experience. The festival often includes screenings for restorations of 35mm Jewish films, including Yiddish classics.
New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival
Through the poignant medium of film, the American Sephardi Federation’s NYSJFF provides viewers with an understanding of the rich mosaic culture of Jews from the Middle East and greater Sephardic Diaspora. Contemporary voices steeped in history and tradition are celebrated throughout this two-week series of events, including première screenings, intriguing stories, powerful documentaries, director Q&As, and The Pomegranate Awards Ceremony.
Cinema, YIVO Encyclopedia
Perhaps because the birth of cinema in the late nineteenth century coincides with the migration of Jews from the Pale of Settlement to the cities of Eastern Europe, newly urbanized Jews were prominent in the development of Eastern European cinema—if only intermittently as Jewish artists addressing Jewish themes or a Jewish public.
Haredi Women's Filmmaking in Israel, Jewish Women's Archive
Haredi women’s films often focus on relationships among women and address issues that until recently were considered taboo, such as the obligation to cover one’s head, the prevention of pregnancy, and forbidden love. Recently, the ultra-Orthodox have begun to appear more frequently in Israeli feature films and document cinema, as well as in LGBT films.
The JFI was founded in 1980 as the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF), "the world’s first event for independent, Jewish-themed storytelling." JFI’s programs illuminate the full diversity of Jewish experiences.
Jews in Television, My Jewish Learning
Looking at Judaism on the small screen. In America, television became commercially available in the late 1930s, and widely accessible in American homes in the 1940s and 1950s. From the start, Jews played a prominent role in the industry. In addition to producing television shows and starring on them, at certain points more than others, Jewish characters appeared in the “small screen” as well.
National Center for Jewish Film
The National Center for Jewish Film is a unique, independent nonprofit motion picture archive, distributor, resource center and exhibitor. NCJF's ongoing mission is the collection, preservation and exhibition of films with artistic and educational value relevant to the Jewish experience and the dissemination of these materials to the widest possible audience.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Collection Highlights
The Academy's unparalleled permanent collection contains more than 10 million photographs, 190,000 film and video assets, 80,000 screenplays, 50,000 posters, 20,000 production and costume design drawings, and 1,400 special collections.
The Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive
The Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive is the largest collection of Jewish documentary films in the world. The archive stores over 18,000 titles from different periods of history, from the time of the Ottoman Empire to this day. The archive contains titles in almost every visual format; this includes film, different types of video and digital files.
The Television Project, The Jewish Museum
A series of exhibitions (2015-2017) featuring a video compilation of clips from the National Jewish Archive Broadcasting, examining issues of Jewish identity and culture as depicted on American television. Segments of this series investigate themes ranging from anti-Semitism, to Jewish advertising, to representations of racial and cultural diversity, all through the lens of American television.