Yiddish: The Mother Tongue (formerly Yiddish: the Mame-Loshn) is an affectionate, Emmy Award-winning time-capsule documentary portrait of a unique and tenacious language and culture (55 min., 1979-2024). The film will be available in late 2024..

Also freely available below is an updating discussion of the subject with Dara Horn, David Fishman, Rukhl Schaechter, Richard Silverstein, and Pierre Sauvage (46 min., 2021).

Examining the importance of Yiddish to American Jews in 1979, the only documentary ever made about the centuries-old language of the Jews evokes its riches through interviews, music, humor, poetry and film clips.

The film features interviews with comedian David Steinberg, actor Herschel Bernardi, writer Leo Rosten, scholar Dr. Joshua Fishman, and theatrical producer Isaiah Sheffer, as well as rousing musical punctuation by the pioneer klezmer band The Klezmorim--probably the first time klezmer music was ever heard on American television.

Shot in New York and Los Angeles, "Yiddish: the Mother Tongue" was written, produced, co-directed and reported by Pierre Sauvage.

Although both his parents had come from Yiddish-speaking homes, Sauvage himself was raised by them in New York without Yiddish in a French-speaking home; he did not even learn he was Jewish till he was 18. This documentary was his first step at exploring cultural roots which he'd never known.

Also available is an updating discussion of the subject with Dara Horn, Rukhl Schaechter, David Fishman, Richard Silverstein, and Pierre Sauvage (46 min., 2021).

"Yiddish lore and derivations, traditions and opinions have been admirably assembled and showcased in hour docu produced, written by Pierre Sauvage who, as interviewer, keeping an admirably low profile, asks helpful questions."
        Daily Variety, July 3, 1979

 "Anyone interested in the Jewish culture shouldn't miss this comprehensive documentary on Yiddish, 'the mother tongue.' 'What other language has long endured without a homeland?' Sauvage asks, and then effectively proceeds to evoke the pleasures of Yiddish through interviews, poetry, illustrations, clips from Yiddish films and the lively music of the Klezmorim.
 "Comedian David Steinberg, actor Herschel Bernardi, author Leo Rosten, editor of the Daily Forward Simon Weber, Dr. Joshua Fishman of New York's Yeshiva University and Yiddish scholar Dr. Saul Goodman are among those elucidating the joys of Yiddish from both personal and historical perspectives."
        The Hollywood Reporter, July 5, 1979

 "I love the program. We watched it at our home twice with delight. It is a gem."
        Newton N. Minow, [then] Chairman of the Board, P. B. S.

After having hosted the Tonight show and guested on numerous prime time network TV shows, I still have a tendency to underestimate the power of the medium. But imagine my pleasure in striking such a responsive note from people in all walks of life—Jewish and non-Jewish—for your documentary. Months later, I still [heard] about it daily with people remarking, 'Why can't there be more of this!'"
        David Steinberg

 "I enjoyed your program on the Yiddish language more than I can tell you. It is colorful and dramatic. I am sure that most people know very little about Yiddish and this even includes many Jews. They think of it just as a jargon. This program should go far and wide. I am sure it will not only be a revelation, but a source of great pleasure to many, many people."
        [The late] Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin, Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Filmmaker Sauvage went on to make Weapons of the Spirit—being reissued in 2023 in a newly remastered edition—the much acclaimed feature documentary about the area of Le Chambon. the Huguenot community in France that became a haven for 5,000 Jews during the Holocaust, including Sauvage and his parents.

Also available soon is Pierre Sauvage's Not Idly By: Peter Bergson, America and the Holocaust (2023, 59 min.). These two documentaries chronicle important aspects of the American Jewish experience— some highs and some lows—spanning 30 years of Jewish filmmaking.

Also being released in 2023 is the filmmaker's We Were There: Christians and the Holocaust. 

Upcoming is Sauvage's feature documentary, A Year That Mattered: Varian Fry and the Refugee Crisis, Marseille 1940-41.