Marat Grinberg is the co-editor of “Woody on Rye: Jewishness in the Films and Plays of Woody Allen.” Although Woody Allen’s films have received extensive attention from scholars and critics, no book has focused exclusively on Jewishness in his work, particularly that of the late 1990’s and beyond. In this anthology, a distinguished group of contributors—whose work is richly contextualized in the fields of literature, philosophy, film, theater, and comedy—examine the Schlemiel, Allen and women, the Jewish take on the “morality of murder,” Allen’s take on Hebrew scripture and Greek tragedy, his stage work, his cinematic treatment of food and dining, and what happens to “Jew York” when Woody takes his films out of New York City.
Considered together, these essays delineate the intellectual, artistic and moral development of one of cinema’s most durable and controversial directors. Marat was a guest on the series last November presenting on “The Soviet Jewish Bookshelf.”. We welcome him once again for a talk on Woody Allen and his entertaining and glorious masterpieces.
We are deeply grateful and wish to acknowledge the generous support of Gloria and Marty Greenstein, without whom this popular and highly-regarded program would be possible.
The Speaker Series is supported by a Coalition team, helmed in recent years by its amazing Chair, Lois Schein. Lois designs, develops, moderates and makes the event happen. It is her great energy and intuition that makes this program so edgy and worthwhile. Program assists include member Silky Berger who contributes her considerable Public Relations talents and Marian Dar who provides Zoom back-up and co-host support.