Film Festival

The Catskills

Dates : May 11, 2024 — May 12, 2024

A humorous and nostalgic tribute to what became affectionately known as the Borscht Belt, this delightful film tracks the dramatic influx, peak, and decline of “the Jewish Alps.” Stand-up comedians share their best shtick while former waiters, entertainers, and dance instructors recount tales of the family-run resorts and bungalows that inspired films like “Dirty Dancing.”

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Overview

A humorous and nostalgic tribute to what became affectionately known as the Borscht Belt, this delightful film tracks the dramatic influx, peak, and decline of “the Jewish Alps.” Stand-up comedians share their best shtick while former waiters, entertainers, and dance instructors recount tales of the family-run resorts and bungalows that inspired films like “Dirty Dancing.” Featuring home movies, publicity photos, postcards, and menus, this time capsule provides an overview of Jewish immigration to New York going back to the early twentieth century. From lox to herring, this celebration of Jewish-American life is all you can eat.

May 12 screening followed by a meet and greet with Director Lex Gillespie and Professor Lauren B. Strauss, Director of Jewish Studies at American University, in the EDCJCC Library.

Dir. Lex Gillespie | 85 min
Documentary | United States | 2024
English

About our Guests

Lex Gillespie is an independent producer in Washington, D.C. A Haverford College graduate, Gillespie has been a reporter and producer for public radio since 1988. He’s produced hundreds of features and documentaries for NPR and PRI on music, history and culture. His programs include A Kind and Just Parent, the story of the Nation’s first juvenile court in Chicago; The Blue Lake; and Intipuca, D.C. He’s won two Peabody Awards for his series on American music history Let the Good Times Roll (2004) and Whole Lotta Shakin’ (2007). He was also a producer with the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History on the series Jazz Singers and Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was.

Dr. Lauren Strauss teaches Jewish history and Israel studies at the American University in Washington, D.C., where she also serves as Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Jewish Studies Program. A scholar of American Jewish political and cultural history, her forthcoming book is: Painting the Town Red: Jewish Visual Artists, Yiddish Culture, and Radical Politics in Interwar New York. Her next book explores political activism in the D.C. Jewish community in the twentieth century. Dr. Strauss lectures widely and is a commentator at Jewish cultural events and in the press. She is active in “shared society” groups and academic organizations in the U.S. and Israel, and she has curated or served as historian for several museum exhibits.