Simcha

2000-01-01
Sound
10m

Extremely rare insight in the role of a Hasidic woman, featuring a mother-daughter team who live in North London.

Simcha (meaning Happiness) explores the closed world of Hasidic women through the life stories of a powerful mother/daughter team who live in the Jewish ultra-orthodox community of North London. It shows Ita and Hindi in the workplace and at home preparing the shabbos meal - depict the crucial role of the woman in Hasidic religious life and nurturing Jewish identity. A passionate and unusually frank commentary.

SIMCHA (meaning Happiness) explores the closed world of Hasidic women through the life stories of a powerful mother/daughter team who live in the Jewish ultra-orthodox community of North London. Images of ""women's work"" - Ita and Hindi in the workplace and at home preparing the shabbos meal - depict the crucial role of the woman in Hasidic religious life and nurturing Jewish identity. A passionate and disturbingly-frank commentary.

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.