Mezuzah Man finds home on Nine
Rejected by ABC, SBS and festivals, Jewish short film Mezuzah Man has found its home on The Today Show, streaming exclusively on 9Now.
After being turned down by numerous festivals and broadcasters, including ABC and SBS, short film Mezuzah Man has officially been released, exclusively on The Today Show via 9Now.
Mezuzah Man, first screened at The Jewish International Film Festival in 2025, was one of four short films to receive funding via the Jewish Australian Screen Fund (JASF), exploring life in Australia post-October 7.
Written and directed by Jacob Melamed, Mezuzah Man depicts life in Bondi amid rising antisemitism, and following the horrific terror attack on Chanukah by the Sea on December 14, the film has taken on an even greater significance.
According to JASF director Jamie Bialkower, a Hatzolah responder who had been on set with the cast and crew was injured at Bondi Beach.
In February this year, the film made headlines when SBS refused to screen it, on the grounds that the content could be “inflammatory across some communities”.
“While we really respect the integrity of the film, we’ve decided to pass on this occasion,” SBS’s Colleen Meldrum wrote to Bialkower on February 10. “We’re currently well stocked in the short film space … We also need to be mindful of our very broad and diverse audience, and at this time – alongside capacity considerations – we’re hesitant to move forward with content that could be received as inflammatory across some communities.”
At the time, Bialkower told The AJN, “Jewish filmmakers should not have to accept the casual indifference of being told by public broadcasters that Jewish stories could be considered inflammatory by other communities. There is a verified institutional resistance to funding Jewish narratives across wide segments of the screen sector, but change can only start with acknowledging that there is a problem.
“Antisemitism is being normalised at an alarming rate, and the urgency to see ourselves on Australian screens is only growing. Authentic representation and visibility can be a powerful source of empathy on screen … Ensuring that our stories are being written, funded and seen in this country is one of the greatest challenges that we face.”
The film now arrives on Australian screens against the backdrop of the Royal Commission, and as Bialkower states, “acts as a submission itself”.