Mir Kumen On (Poland, 1935)

On the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish Museum in Prague, we invite you to the film series “Cinema Yiddishland,” which presents Yiddish culture as a living space and an inexhaustible source of artistic inspiration. The program connects pre-war films that evoke the long-vanished worlds of Eastern European Jewish communities with contemporary works for which Yiddish serves above all as a creative language.

Directed by Lodz native Aleksander Ford and financed by the Jewish Labor movement in Poland, Mir Kumen On (Children Must Laugh) is one of the few surviving documentaries about Jewish life in Poland before WWII. This institutional film was produced to raise funds for the Vladimir Medem Sanitarium which, noted for its modern and spacious facilities, stood as the embodiment of health and enlightenment, in striking contrast to the grim images of urban Polish-Jewish poverty.
The sanitarium's theme song, “Mir Kumen On” (Here We Come), punctuates the film with a sense of hope and accomplishment. The Bund's optimistic internationalism, exemplified by the children's endearing performances, permeates the film, creating powerful yet unintended ironies for post-Holocaust audiences.
A post-screening discussion will be led by Karolina Szymaniak, a leading Polish Yiddish scholar.
Language: Yiddish, with English and Czech subtitles, 63 min.

Online ticket purchase via GoOut or on the Ponrepo Cinema website.

Full admission – 120 CZK
Reduced admission – 100 CZK
Ponrepo Cinema members – 60 CZK