JIFF: I Have Sinned (1936)

Al Khet

Australian Premiere

A treasure of early cinema out of circulation for generations, this is the first Yiddish sound film made in Poland. The debut film appearance of comedy duo Shimon Dzigan and Israel Schumacher, the “Yiddish Abbott and Costello”, it also stars Rachel Holzer, who became the queen of Yiddish theatre in Melbourne after she came to Australia from Poland in 1939.

In a small town during World War I, the local rabbi’s daughter falls pregnant to a German Jewish officer, but when the officer dies in battle, she abandons her child, fleeing to America as the town is evacuated before the Russian advance. Szamaj and Awrejmel (Dzigan and Schumacher) find the baby left alone, resolving to reunite it with its mother, no matter what it takes.

The new 4K restoration is thanks to a mammoth project undertaken by the US-based National Center for Jewish Film, using original 35mm film materials.

Rating

Unclass15

Duration

95 min

Country

Poland

Language

Yiddish (English subtitles)

Cast

Shimon Dzigan, Israel Schumacher, Rachel Holzer

Director

Aleksander Marten