SBS rejects Jewish film

Jewish Australian Screen Fund (JASF) director Jamie Bialkower has criticised SBS for rejecting the film Mezuzah Man on the grounds that the content could be “inflammatory across some communities”.

The short film, written and directed by Jacob Melamed, depicted life in Bondi amid antisemitism and was financed by the JASF.

SBS’s Colleen Meldrum declined the film.

“While we really respect the integrity of the film, we’ve decided to pass on this occasion,” she 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.”

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.