Inaugural Jewish Australian Screen Fellowship awarded

A Queensland-based filmmaker has been named the inaugural recipient of a $20,000 fellowship aimed at advancing authentic Jewish Australian storytelling on screen.

Jump Street Films announced this week that Idan Kotzen, Panavision’s branch manager on the Gold Coast and an emerging director, cinematographer and animator, will use the Jewish Australian Screen Fellowship to develop Golem, a Jewish-themed horror short. His credits include camera department work on upcoming international productions Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, The Mosquito Bowl and Honeymoon with Harry.

Over the next 12 months, Kotzen will take Golem from screenplay development through cultural and religious research, creature design and practical effects testing, through to production and planning for an expanded feature film.

Jump Street Films director Jamie Bialkower said the project “particularly resonated in the context of using genre to explore aspects of inherited trauma and survival under threat, speaking directly to the current climate,” adding that “the opportunity to embark on a contemporary horror film underpinned by a personal, distinctly Jewish perspective is hugely exciting.”

Bialkower said he “hopes the funding has inspired someone who may have been inclined to look away, and provided an incentive for them to look forward.”