Greatly enjoyed talking about the work of director Paula Eiselt on March 8 for Central Synagogue’s Reproductive Rights Group.
“Through the choices she made, the way she arranged them, and the fascinating analysis and commentary she layers on top, Meyers has produced a book that is a must-have for scholars of film, Jewish studies, cultural studies, and a range of other disciplines,” writes Jenny Caplan in her review of Movie-Made Jews in Journal of Religion and Film.
So enjoyed presenting “Big Mouths and Quiet Revolutionaries: Jewish Women in Film, 1970s-2010s” on June 9th for the Jewish Women’s Archive !
What an honor and joy it was to talk with the Wise Women’s Book Club about Movie-Made Jews on Feb. 17th! The debate about non-Jews playing Jews onscreen and the ways that film can combat antisemitism and forge alliances were just some of the topics we discussed. I love doing Jewish adult education programs and am so grateful to Rabbi Sari Laufer of LA’s Stephen Wise Temple for inviting me.
Excerpt alert: Check out the February issue of The Revealer, published by NYU’s Center for Media and Religion, for an excerpt from “Assertively Jewish Onscreen,” chap. 5 of Movie-Made Jews. You’ll get a taste of the fascinating production and reception history of Zach Braff’s Wish I Was Here.
Check out my review of the Sundance premiere of Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee’s fabulous documentary Aftershock.
Had so much fun talking to Brett Krutzsch about Movie-Made Jews for The Revealer podcast.
A profile of me and Movie-Made Jews appeared in The Key Reporter, the online publication of Phi Beta Kappa.
So appreciate Chloe Sarbib’s commentary on MOVIE-MADE JEWS as well as the opportunity to answer her smart, fun questions about the book!
Movie-Made Jews is “a must-read for any Jewish cinephiles,” writes Emily Burack in Hey Alma’s September roundup of Jewish books of note
Read a pre-publication review of Movie-Made Jews in Houston’s Jewish Herald Voice: “Ways of Seeing Jewish Movies.”
It was SO much fun to respond to Dr. Meile Bridges’s great questions about MOVIE-MADE JEWS. And I’ll use any opportunity I get to sing the praises of the amazing folks at Southwestern University’s Smith Library. Read the SU feature story here.
By selectively revisiting canonical pre-1990 films and amply representing films of the new millennium, Movie-Made Jews illuminates an American Jewish film tradition that includes jazz singers, pawnbrokers, and serious men. It also features those who tremble before G-d, who commit crimes and misdemeanors, who declare Hineini, Here I Am, who do whatever works, who leave and then return to Delancey Street and Liberty Heights. In these pages, those who might be identified as “just Jews” reside
alongside those who are traditionally—and sometimes untraditionally—observant.
Helene Meyers 