Creating a Digital Film Archive

Abstract

Hasidic Jews came to the United States in significant numbers after the Holocaust, and a large percentage of them settled in Brooklyn, New York. The Hasidim are distinct from other New Yorkers, and from other Jews, in their old-world manner of dress, their customs, and lifestyle. Filmmakers Oren Rudavsky and Menachem Daum were granted extraordinary access to this community, to document their lives and share who they are with the world. From this access came the landmark documentary A Life Apart: Hasidism in America. The unused footage from the filming, a potentially rich resource for scholars, was inaccessible due to formats and lack of organization until Brooklyn College obtained an NHPRC grant to digitize and make it available to the public. The footage was opened to the public at the end of November 2022.