Joseph silks

Joseph Seiden (born July 23, 1892 in New York , † January 1974 in New Hyde Park , New York State ) was an important director and producer of Yiddish film .

Live and act

He began his film career in the mid-1910s as a cameraman for various film production companies in the New York area (the US film industry was still predominantly located on the east coast at that time).

With the beginning of the sound film era, Seiden came into contact with Yiddish film . He founded Judea Films in 1929 and began producing Yiddish films. For this he engaged the director Sidney M. Goldin, who was already known for his Yiddish filmmaking . We made comical but also serious short and feature films, some with Leo Fuchs .

From the mid-1930s Seiden began writing screenplays for Yiddish films, and from the late 1930s he also directed these films himself. His most famous works include the drama Got, Mentsh and Tayvl (God, Man and Devil) (1950), a modification of Goethe's Faust in the Yiddish milieu, which was made as one of his last films.

Some of his films have survived , restored by the National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis University , and released on DVD with English subtitles, including Got, Mentsh and Teyfl , I Want to be a Boarder, and Motel the Operator .

Filmography

The original Yiddish titles are given in brackets, if available.

Feature films:

• 1915: The Siren's Song (as cameraman; Director: George W. Lederer )
• 1915: The Question (as cameraman; directed by Harry Handworth )
• 1916: The Eternal Question (as cameraman; directed by Burton L. King )
• 1916: The Weakness of Strength (as cameraman; Director: Harry Revier )
• 1917: The Lust of the Ages (as cameraman; director: Harry Revier)
• 1918: The Grain of Dust (as cameraman; director: Harry Revier)
• 1933: Live and Laugh ( as producer; directors: Sidney M. Goldin , Max Wilner )
• 1933: The Eternal Jew (as producer; director: George Roland )
• 1936: Love and Sacrifice (Libe und Laydnshaft) (as producer; Director: George Roland)
• 1937: The Living Orphan (Der Lebediker Yusem) (as a director)
• 1937: I Want to Be a Mother (Ich will zein a Mame) (as producer; Director: George Roland)
• 1938: Sex Madness
• 1939: Paradise in Harlem (as a director)
• 1939: Kol Nidre (as director and producer)
• 1939: My Son (Mayn Zundele) (as director and producer)
• 1940: The Jewish Melody (Der Yidisher Nigh) (as director and producer)
• 1940: The Great Advisor (Der Groyser Eytse-geber) (as director and producer)
• 1940: Motel the Operator (as director and producer)
• 1940: Eli Eli (as director and producer)
• 1940: Her Second Mother (as director and producer)
• 1941: Mazel Tov Yidden (Mazel Tov Jews) (as director and producer)
• 1949: Three Daughters (Dray Techter) (as a director)
• 1950: God, Man and Devil (Got, Mentsh and Tayvl) (as director and producer)
• 1950: Monticello, Here We Come (as director and producer)

Short films:

• 1929: Style and Class (as cameraman and producer; director: Sidney M. Goldin)
• 1930: Shoemaker's Romance ( as cameraman and producer; director: Sidney M. Goldin)
• 1930: Sailor's Sweetheart (as producer; director: Sidney M. Goldin)
• 1930: Oy Doctor! (as producer; director: Sidney M. Goldin)
• 1930: Kol Nidre (as producer; director: Sidney M. Goldin)
• 1930: The Jewish Gypsy (as producer; director: Sidney M. Goldin)
• 1931: Shulamith (as producer; director: Sidney M. Goldin)
• 1936: I Want to be a Boarder (I want to be a "Boarder") (as a director)

Documentaries:

• 1932: Shikat vs. Lewis Wrestling Match (short film; as cameraman and producer)
• 1934: The Voice of Israel (Shtime fun Yisroel) (as producer; director: Sidney M. Goldin)

Web links

• Joseph Silk at the Internet Movie Database (English)