Among the great cinematic portraits of Jewish life in America, Joan Micklin Silver’s debut feature is anchored by her own screenplay (adapted from Abraham Cahan’s 1896 novella Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto) and an unforgettable, Oscar-nominated performance by Carol Kane. Kane stars as Gitl, one half of an Eastern European Jewish couple alongside Yankel (Steven Keats). Upon arriving in New York’s Lower East Side in the late 19th century, Gitl finds that her husband, who’d come to America before her with their young son, has acclimated to their new country fairly well—but he has also begun an affair with a dancer, and Gitl finds herself in an unenviable situation in a strange new place. Hester Street meticulously reconstructs this bygone haven for Jewish immigrants to masterfully paint one woman’s journey to assimilation and her arrival at the crossroads of tradition and modernity. (Synopsis courtesy of the New York Film Festival)
A Cohen Media Group release. Restored in 4K in 2020 from the 35mm original negative by the Cohen Film Collection at DuArt Media Services and with the help of Joan Micklin Silver's daughter, Marisa Silver.
NY Premiere at the New York Film Festival September 25; Opens at the Quad in NYC and the Nuart in LA October 1