The Golem: How He Came into the World

The Golem: How He Came Into the World
A Lee B. Anderson Memorial Foundation film screening and talk by Maya Barzilai (University of Michigan)
A screening of this seminal German Expressionist film from 1920, which tells how an artificial clay monster, known as Golem, is formed and animated to protect the Jews of sixteenth-century Prague from expulsion. Following the film, scholar Maya Barzilai will help us explore the Gothic architecture of Han’s Poelzig’s film and illuminate how the golem was molded into a cinematic object.

Lee B. Anderson, who worked for a time as an arts education teacher, has been referred to as the godfather of the Gothic revival in America. It is largely because of his impressive personal collection that the style has been rekindled among designers and other tastemakers. Lee passed away in 2010, but he left a legacy of philanthropic support through the Lee B. Anderson Memorial Foundation, whose mission is to support programs and organizations that advance an appreciation for the decorative arts.
Maya Barzilai researches twentieth-century Hebrew, German, and Yiddish literature and cinema, with an emphasis on cultural exchange through translation and adaptation. Her work explores German-Hebrew translation discourse and practice, showing how literary translators engaged scriptural translation models while negotiating Jewish national culture.