Steven Spielberg’s Jewish Story Partners foundation, which he and wife Kate Capshaw founded to help fund Jewish-themed documentary films, announced its first slate of grantees on Wednesday.
The 10 projects received a total of $225,000 from Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation and the Maimonides Fund, with extra help from the Jim Joseph Foundation.
Here are the films, first reported by Deadline:
“Coexistence My Ass!” – Directed by Amber Fares
The film follows Israeli comedian Noam Schuster, who is bent on using her standup routine to get Israelis to question their biases.
“The Conspiracy” – Directed by Maxim Pozdorovkin
The film looks at the history behind the lie “that a dangerous cabal of powerful Jews controls the world.”
“Meredith Monk: Dancing Voice, Singing Body” – Directed by Billy Shebar and David Roberts
The groundbreaking composer and choreographer, who has won the National Medal of Arts and a MacArthur grant, gets her own film. The pop legend Bjork is a co-producer.
“Rabbi” – Directed by Sandi DuBowski
“Rabbi” chronicles the story of pioneering Rabbi Amichau Lau-Lavie “from drag queen rebel to rabbinical student to founder of Lab/Shul, an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation.”
“South Commons” – Directed by Joey Soloway
The Jewish creator of “Transparent” takes a hard look at the racial tensions in the Chicago community in which she grew up.
“Untitled Spiritual Care Documentary” – Directed by Luke Lorentzen
Mount Sinai hospitals in New York appoint interfaith chaplain residents each year — this film follows four of them.
“The Wild One” – Directed by Tessa Louise Salomé
It’s the story of Jack Garfein, an Auschwitz survivor who went on to play a key role in the Actors’ Studio group and taught the craft to some of the last century’s biggest stars.
“Heroes” – Directed by Avishai Mekonen and Shari Rothfarb Mekonen
The tale of a group of Ethiopian-Jewish activists who fought to keep their community alive in the 1970s to 1990s, a time of harsh dictatorship.
“Joyva” – Directed by Josh Freund and Sam Radutzky
The 100-plus-year-old Joyva company is among the most recognized Jewish-American candy companies, whose delicacies often end up at holiday celebrations such as Passover. The film focuses on the founder’s great-grandchildren, who are fighting to keep the business afloat.
“Walk With Me” – Directed by Heidi Levitt
Levitt tracks her husband’s battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.