CONGREGATION BRITH SHOLOM

2016-2017 YIDDISH FILM FESTIVAL

“MAMELE”  (with English Subtitles)

Sunday February 26, 2017 at 2:00PM

 Admission: $5 for adults and free admission for minors

Please call Tammy at 610 866 8009 for reservations

 

Synopsis:  The 1938 film, “Mamele”  belongs to Molly Picon, “Queen of the Yiddish Musical,” who shines as Mamele (little mother), the dutiful daughter keeping her family intact after the death of their mother. She’s so busy cooking, cleaning  and  matchmaking  for her brothers and sisters that she has little time for herself, until she discovers the violinist across the courtyard!

Set in Lodz, Poland, this musical comedy drama embraces the diverse gamut of interwar Jewish life in Poland, with its nogoodniks and unemployed, nightclubs and gangsters, and religious Jews celebrating Succoth.

 

Reviews:  

• “MollyPicon plays a cheerfully  suffering  yenta  Cinderella  awaiting  justice for her many sacrifices to a selfish family. She cooks, she cleans, she  sings—what more do you want? Of course there’s a happy ending.” ---Dennis Harvey, San Francisco Bay Guardian (July 22, 2014)
• “Even if you know nothing about Yiddush culture, anything with Molly Picon is worth seeing. This  marvelous  film  finds the vastly talented actress taking care of her underemployed, unappreciated siblings and father. Made in Poland in 1938, when life was terrible for Jews and about to get unimaginably worse, Mamela is a must see for film lovers”.—KQED Critic’s Pick
• “The  N.Y. Jewish Film Festival has always been an excellent showcase for the restoration work of film archivists, and this year’s program is no exception, with the revival of Mamele, a vehicle for the vastly talented Molly Picon….The archival programs are always among the festival highlights for this critic”---Jewish Week  (December 31, 2013)
• “A sparking gem of the New York Jewish Film Festival is the U.S. premier of the restored 1938 Yiddish film Mamela.  Starring Molly Picon, the 5 foot tall, 100 lb. phenom  of Yiddish stage and screen, the film is set in Poland’s textile hub of Lodz. A Yiddish Cinderella, Picon shops, shleps, cooks, dreams of love and is the go-to-person when someone has a problem”—Jewish Daily Forward  (January 20, 2014)