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Stephen Pushkin creates a Jewish EastEnders for television

March 3, 2011 10:52
03032011 Stephen Pushkin

By

Candice Krieger,

Candice Krieger

1 min read

What do novelist Bernard Kops and Yiddish actress Anna Tzelniker - best known for playing Yente, the matchmaker in Fiddler On the Roof - have in common? They both grew up in the East End of London and have contributed to a new documentary about the area.

Called My Jewish London, the 70-minute programme is the brainchild of retired assistant film director Stephen Pushkin. The 71-year-old has spent six years working on the project, which is about the history of the Jewish East End and the immigrants that settled there in the 1880s. Mr Pushkin, who grew up there, tells People: "It's all about the experiences that people and their families had, and what drove them to the East End.

"I wanted to look at Jewish history and show people the hardships that these immigrants faced."

The documentary is based on interviews with ten well-known people, including Geraldine Auerbach, the founder of the Jewish Music Institute, English actor Lee Montague and Professor Bill Fishman.