Hester Street
Joan Micklin Silver / US, 1975 / 89 min.
One of the leading, hardworking and yet inexplicably forgotten female directors of the 1970s, Joan Micklin Silver’s first independent feature film about the lives of a Jewish immigrant couple on New York’s Lower East Side was a major success.
This wonderfully styled, rediscovered drama by ground-breaking independent director Joan Micklin Silver brilliantly recreates Jewish immigrant life on New York’s Lower East Side at the start of the 20th century.
Carol Kane was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actress category for her subtle role as Gitl, a recent immigrant to New York from Eastern Europe. To her surprise she notices her husband (Steven Keats) has already adapted to this new world. Gradually, the timid Gitl develops into an independent woman. The film is set in the early 20th century, a world on the brink of modernity, all shot in crystal-clear black & white. Director Joan Micklin Silver would later create a contemporary portrayal of the same milieu in Crossing Delancey.
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Special screenings
Details
Director
Joan Micklin Silver
Production year
1975
Country
US
Original title
Hester Street
Length
89 min.
Language
English
Subtitles
NONE
Format
DCP
Part of
Liberating Hollywood
In its Liberating Hollywood programme, Eye is screening works by female directors working in the US in the 1970s. Pioneers of the second-wave feminist era, their work has seldom or never been screened in the Netherlands. Highlights of the programme are Wanda (Barbara Loden) and Girlfriends (Claudia Weill), the inspiration for Lena Dunham’s series Girls.
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