Motherland

Content warning:

Contains antisemitic stereotypes

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Motherland

1927
Silent
84m

In the surviving opening scenes of this WWI-set feature, young soldiers head to the front and face life in the trenches

All that remains of this 1927 feature film about the First World War is the first reel - but these few minutes contain some beautifully crafted moments. In the touching first scene, three soldiers among a crowd of fresh recruits say goodbye to their families and sweethearts. The second scene features the camaraderie and mordant humour of the trenches as they settle into army life, joking and playing cards. Many 1920s British films dealt with the war - often paying tribute to the fallen.

In the rest of the film, as the train station scene foreshadows, one of the soldiers will pretend to be his chum to comfort his blind mother back home. Another of the featured families is Jewish - these characters are uncomfortably caricatured, with the son counting the money he won at cards and striking a hard bargain over a penknife. The film was produced and directed by GB Samuelson, a prolific British filmmaker of the silent era, who was himself Jewish. He was the father of Sir Sydney Samuelson, the first British Film Commissioner.

Jewish Britain

Jewish life on screen: a century of insights and hidden histories

This collection uncovers insights, injustices and hidden histories across a century of Jewish life on British screens. It brings together documentary and first-person accounts of Jewish life in the UK, alongside historical dramas and artists’ work exploring the 20th century Jewish experience. The earliest surviving depictions of Jewish characters in British cinema offer a troubling insight into antisemitic representation, yet prejudice was later tackled head-on, with newsreels documenting the anti-fascist movement of the 1930s.

Drop in on joyous family weddings and community gatherings, and see the ways in which UK Jewry supported Jews young and old, and those fleeing persecution, in a selection of fascinating films from the 1900s to the 1980s.

This collection is generously supported by the Neil Kreitman Foundation, Shoresh Charitable Trust, John S Cohen Foundation, and Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation.