Hungry Hearts

Centennial Anniversary

Based on the short stories of Anzia Yezierska, the first writer to bring stories of American Jewish women to a mainstream audience, Hungry Hearts focuses on the members of the Levin family who emigrate from Eastern Europe to New York City's Lower East Side. Abraham, the pious father learned in religion but uninterested in business, has difficulty making a living and adjusting to life in America. The daughter Sara scrubs floors in the tenement in order to earn money and “become a somebody.” The mother Hannah, a noble matriarch, scrimps and saves to paint her dingy kitchen white only to have her landlord raise the rent because of the improvements. This bittersweet silent classic captures the hopes and hardships of Jewish immigrants in the New World and is a cinematic landmark for documenting the Jewish immigrant experience for the first time. Film restoration by The National Center for Jewish Film.

The restoration of this Jewish silent film will be presented live with an original music score performed by Sander Willig.