A short film from the Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project

Ida Maze: The "Den Mother" of Yiddish Montreal is a fifteen-minute film that looks at the life and work of the Yiddish poet Ida Maze, including her influential role at the heart of the city's community of Yiddish writers. The film draws from an interview with her son, Irving Massey—a literary scholar who has written extensively about his mother's poetry and has translated some of her work—as well as archival audio recordings of an event held in her honor at the Jewish Public Library of Montreal in 1956. Together, Irving's eloquent memories of his mother and the appreciative voices of her colleagues compellingly tell of her life, poetry, and legacy.

Running time: 15 minutes