The NFB has done us a great service in having funded documentaries like this one, The Jews of Winnipeg, by Bill Davies.

Click here to see the film.

It was made in 1973 and is history and nostalgia in one. Most of the people who are interviewed are not identified, which is unfortunate. But it does also feature a number of familiar people like Mira Spivak, Joe Zuken and Arthur Gunn, of Gunn’s Bakery, and most notably, comedian/producer David Steinberg, who is warm and engaging in a visit with his mother, reminiscing about his father and his work in their synagogue as he was growing up. The film runs almost 30 minutes and captures a perspective on the growth of the Jewish community in Winnipeg, and the special nature of this close knit group. If anyone knows the names of those outspoken and articulate young students in the scene outside the Talmud Torah School, please do share them.