The City Without Jews (1924)
(Die Stadt ohne Juden, H. K. Breslauer, Austria 1924, 80 min., DCP)
Silent Tuesdays | Rochester Premiere. Lost for more than ninety years, the original version of this title was found at a Parisian flea market in 2015. Meticulously restored by the Austrian Film Archive, and thanks to the largest crowdfunding campaign in Austria’s history, the film can once again see the light of day. Based on the dystopian 1922 novel by Hugo Bettauer, the story contemplates a city that has identified its Jewish population as the root of its problems and expels them from its borders. Although the (non-Jewish) citizens are initially happy with this act, the city falters and the decision is reversed. Prophetic in its content and in its imagery, the film presaged nationalist anti-Semitism and made the argument that exclusion of a defined group of citizens weakens the community. Live piano by Philip C. Carli.