Evocative yet playful, Life Forgotten asks, how does everyday entertainment bring people together and act as a catalyst for social change? Situating archival film in parallel with reenactment, the film conjures up New York’s Lower East Side in the early years of the twentieth century, it centers on a real storefront cinema, Frank Seiden’s Variety Theater. Here silent movies were anything but. Frank and his sons improvised dialog for the films and sang Yiddish ballads to an audience that didn’t hesitate to join in or argue back. It was a welcoming space for women and the film follows a group of radical young garment workers who gather here to figure out how to fight for women’s rights and change their world.
Kate Valk
Sarah Adler
Ariel Shafir
Frank Seiden
Maria Perez
Clara Lemlich
If one server does not work, switch to another server.
January 10, 2026
51m
0.0
Zoe Beloff
Zoe Beloff
0
Besties Make Movies
N/A
Lexie Waddy
Pauline
• If the video does not load, change to another server.
• Use fullscreen for the best experience.
• Some sources may have different subtitle timing.