Five curious little gefiltes are sneaking out of their jar and heading for New York City, much to Mama Gefilte's dismay! And this month they're arriving in America for real. We're thrilled to be part of the American premiere week of Gefiltlekh finf (Five Little Gefiltes). It's a lively new Yiddish-language animated short, adapted from Dave Horowitz's picture book. As the gefiltes go on their big-city adventures, each sibling shows what it means to act with integrity and good character.
The film is in Yiddish with English subtitles, so no Yiddish is needed. Kids will hear the mame-loshn come alive anyway!
Watch the trailer to meet the gefiltes before the big day!
After the screening, kids ages 6–14 join a hands-on stop-motion workshop with the filmmakers. They'll build and customize their own gefilte fish characters, animate them on adventures through New York, and then watch their group's film with music and sound effects added.
Our youngest gefilte fans, ages 5 and under, have their own free storytime and painting session led by one of our shule teachers. They'll hear the original Five Little Gefiltes picture book read aloud in English, then paint gefilte fish cut-outs to take home.
We'll finish together with a sharing, where everyone gets to see what the others created.
Schedule:
10:00 – 10:15 AM: Welcome and screening of Gefiltlekh finf (everyone)
10:20 – 10:50 AM: Storytime and painting, Early years: ages 5 and under
10:20 – 11:20 AM: Stop-motion workshop, Group 1: ages 6–8
11:20 – 11:35 AM: Second screening of Gefiltlekh finf (everyone)
11:40 AM – 12:40 PM: Stop-motion workshop, Group 2: ages 9–14
12:40 – 1:00 PM: Sharing: watch the films the kids made
Meet the team:
Helene Berg (co-director and animator) has led animation workshops for kids internationally for more than 15 years, including at Stockholm's Stadsteatern and the National Art Museum in Minsk.
Isabella A. Johanson (co-director, producer and the voice of Mama Gefilte) is a filmmaker who has created children's content for Swedish public broadcasters SVT and UR.
Sarah Schulman (creative producer) is the founder of Dos Nisele, an award-winning Yiddish publishing house based in Stockholm, Sweden. She received Sweden's Minority Language Prize in 2025.
The film's score is by klezmer musician Alexander Freudenthal, and the Yiddish translation is by Michael Wex (Born to Kvetch). Gefiltlekh finf premiered at the BUFF festival in Malmö, opened the International Jewish Film Festival, and is now celebrating its American premiere week in New York.