Ticket Information:
Free Admission (donation requested)
*reservations highly recommended

Description:

Followed by a screeing of the 1975 film Hester Street (Midwest Films), Dr. Jeffrey Peck, Dean of the Weissman School of Arts & Sciences at Baruch College leads a live onstage discussion about the content and significance of the film with Baruch faculty Jessica Lang, English, and Ruth Adler, Modern Languages and Comparative Literature. Admission is free but reservations are requested. (Admission without reservations will be seated on a first-served availability.) For reservations, call the Baruch Box Office at (646) 312-4085 or 5073.

Based on Abraham Cahan’s 1896 novella “Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto”, the film Hester Street tells the story of Jewish immigrants from Europe who live on New York City’s Hester Street in the Lower East Side during the year 1896. When Yekl first comes to Hester Street, he tries to change his identity by calling himself “Jake”, and he quickly assimilates into American culture. He has an affair with a dancer named Mamie, although his wife Gitl arrives later with their son, Yossele. Tensions arise in the marriage as Gitl finds challenges with assimilation.

The film is noted for its detailed portrayal of Jewish immigrant life in New York at the turn of the century and its attempt to deal with the complexities of Jewish-American identity. Specifically, the action of the film surrounds Gitl’s self-assertion on behalf of her right to maintain a traditional identity in an aggressively modern setting.

Carol Kane played the role of Gitl, in which she received a 1976 Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Joan Micklin Silver’s screenplay won the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival award, and the picture was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award.

Additional Information:
Baruch Performing Arts Center
Baruch College
55 Lexington Ave., NYC
(Enter on 25th St bet. Lexington & 3rd Aves. Inside Baruch College)
Box Office: (646) 312-5073 for reservations