28 Feb - Mir Kumen On / Children Must Laugh (1935)

Director: Aleksander Ford
Spoken language: English, Yiddish
Subtitles: English
Info: 1935 | Poland | 63 min
Introduction by: Daniel Voskoboynik

A rare documentary about a historic Jewish children’s sanatorium in Poland, full of youthful hope and socialist idealism.

Directed by Lodz native Aleksander Ford and financed by the Jewish Labor movement in Poland, 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.

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