New fund for Jewish Australian films
Having worked in the film industry for over 20 years, Bialkower noted the lack of interest and support for Jewish Australian stories.
Films about the Australian Jewish experience have yet to grace mainstream cinemas. Jump Street Films is seeking to change that, establishing a fund to support the development and production of Jewish Australian feature films.
Discussing the fund with The AJN, Jump Street Films founder and director Jamie Bialkower commented, “The need for this fund is more important than ever.”
As an Australian Jewish distributor and producer, Bialkower lamented the lack of Jewish narratives being financed in Australia, the lack of support that Jewish artists are receiving at structural and institutional levels, and said the fund was needed to counter antisemitism through representation of Jewish stories on screen. He described the fund as being for both development and production, with contributions being able to be structured as both investments or donations.
Having worked in the film industry for over 20 years, Bialkower noted the lack of interest and support for Jewish Australian stories.
“Both the projects that I’m producing, and others that I’m not, have received feedback from various government agencies questioning the need to be ‘so Jewish’,” he said.
“Even prior to October 7, I had non-Jewish executives describe Jewish projects to me in derogatory terms.”
Bialkower said his perspective had also been impacted by the aftermath of the October 7 massacre. “None of the major film festivals or cultural bodies in Australia even publicly acknowledged the events of October 7, almost as if it hadn’t happened. I have witnessed Australian festival directors being pressured by agenda-driven boards not to screen Israeli films and the associated threats from corporate sponsors.”
He noted that even press about the Jewish film fund has been shunned, telling The AJN, “Following the announcement of the fund, I sat for extensive interviews with mainstream journalists, one of which was scheduled to run last weekend only to be pulled due to editorial interference.
“The irony was not lost on me that an interview discussing the institutional resistance to Jewish stories was subsequently not given the chance to run.”
The fund plans to initially support three projects, including Anita Lester’s films Song of Songs and The White Pigeon, as well as Justin Olstein’s film Shoshanna.
The AJN previously reported that Lester had funding withdrawn from a film she had worked on for three years, in the aftermath of doxxing for her support of Israel.
With this new fund, now two of her films will receive support. Song of Songs made international headlines following news it will star Succession actor Ashley Zukerman, with Elizabeth director Shekhar Kapur as executive producer.
Lester told The AJN, “I am totally aware that creating a culturally specific fund is a big move – however, due to the institutional failures of arts and government organisations to not only recognise Jews as a minority, but to follow through with projects that are holistically Jewish, seems like a shame. There is a rich history of Jewish storytelling in the US and also parts of Europe – but much like the nuances that give those areas their own rituals and specificities, Australian Jewry has its own stories to tell.”
Jump Street Films is calling for entries from both emerging and established creators and expects the funding capacity to grow in the coming months.
For more information visit jumpstreetfilms.com.au
comments