This post was written by Hatchet Reporter Joshua Hock.

Our City Film Festival (Documentary, Short Film; Not Rated)

You can say a lot in 26 minutes.  Local filmmaker Esther McBride, for instance, can deliver an informative history of the early Jewish experience in the District.

Her film, “The Old Days: Jewish Life in Washington, D.C.,” won best short documentary at Yachad’s annual Our City Film Festival, held Feb. 14 at the Goethe-Institut.  The documentary fit well with one of the festival’s themes—capturing the soul of Washington.

“The Old Days” tells the story of the city’s earliest generation of Jewish-Americans.  What makes this historical documentary an especially good watch is that the all of the narration is left to film’s subjects, who vividly recall their heartwarming childhoods in the nation’s capital.

The film is a touching documentation of the development of Jewish-American culture in Washington, addressing everything from bullying to dating etiquette to career decisions.  Relying entirely on the testimony of the those who lived in those early days, the film is something like listening to a grandparent embellish a photo album with familial anecdotes. It takes a fantastically simple “slide-show” approach: historical photographs float by, accompanied by the subjects’ narratives.

Without once appearing on screen, each subject enchants the audience with just plain talk, serving up a wealth of interesting facts. One man remembers the dilapidated state of the Jewish neighborhoods, pointing out that he and many of his neighbors still relied on outhouses in early 20th century Washington.

The documentary is hardly somber, though; the speakers describe their struggles with a certain fondness and a wry sense of humor.

“I never knew [I lived in] a bad neighborhood,” muses one of the film’s subjects.  Even the sheltered nature of the typical Jewish woman’s life is recalled with a special wit: “Most of us were virgins when we got married and didn’t know the first thing to expect.”

With few exceptions, today’s most famous documentaries increasingly aim to enrage or politick; refreshingly, “The Old Days” tries to teach and amuse.

The film is available for purchase on Yachad’s Web site; it is recommended to moviegoers who enjoyed “Paragraph 175” and PBS’ “The Mormons.”