Hester Street (film)

Hester Street
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoan Micklin Silver
Screenplay byJoan Micklin Silver
Based onYekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto
by Abraham Cahan
Produced byRaphael D. Silver
Starring
CinematographyKenneth Van Sickle
Edited byKatherine Wenning
Music byHerbert L. Clarke, William Bolcom
Production
company
Midwest Films
Distributed byMidwest Films
Release dates
  • March 19, 1975 (1975-03-19) (USA Film Festival)
  • October 19, 1975 (1975-10-19) (United States)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Yiddish
Budget$365,000[1]
Box office$4 million[1]

Hester Street is a 1975 American comedy drama film[2] based on Abraham Cahan's 1896 novella Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto, and was adapted and directed by Joan Micklin Silver. The film stars Steven Keats and Carol Kane, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.

In 2011, Hester Street was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In 2021, a 4K restoration of the film was released as part of the Cohen Film Collection. This restoration premiered at the 73rd Cannes Film Festival. The film was then screened at the 59th New York Film Festival and given limited theatrical releases in New York City and Los Angeles, drawing further attention to the film's legacy in the wake of Silver's death.

  1. ^ a b Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-8357-1776-2. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).