This is how Jewish filmmakers wage Israel’s online battle

by Junna Base November 10, 2024

Few media get to the point like film does.

When it comes to depicting the October 7 atrocities, a dedicated group of international Jewish filmmakers are joining together to convey the messages of the past year: winning over “undecided voters” to support humanity (Israel) and not Hamas to support.

Accordingly, Marcus Freed, an award-winning actor, founded the Jewish Filmmakers Network during the Sundance Film Festival last January to strengthen the community of Jewish filmmakers and content creators.

What began as an alliance of like-minded creatives quickly grew into an army of filmmakers who used their creative skills to combat Jew-hatred.

The work of the Jewish Filmmakers Network

“Since October 7th, we have organized filmmakers against anti-Semitism events in Los Angeles, London, New York, [and] Park City, Utah,” explains Freed, who splits his time between Los Angeles and his native London. They are planning more events in Israel and elsewhere.

Launch of the JEWISH FILMMAKERS NETWORK at the Shabbat Lounge, Sundance Film Festival 2023, Utah. Marcus Freed in Jewlicious T-shirt (right); Rabbi Yonah Bookstein (left). (Source: Jewish Filmmakers Network)

This creative energy, in turn, strengthens communities in the diaspora and paves the way for international relationships between Israeli filmmakers and the rest of the world.

“We had face-to-face meetings in several countries, including Los Angeles, London, New York, [and] Utah as part of the Shabbat Lounge events,” he explains. He has now added Global Town Halls to expand access to the cause.

“The town hall concept is to give people the opportunity to gather and share what’s going on for them – in short, by having a conversation for a minute. I don’t know if the concept exists in Israel, but in America it’s a big deal, so in this case I created a Global Town Hall online so that we can give people from different geographical locations the opportunity to share what what’s going on with them as Jewish filmmakers,” says Freed.

These included members from Israel, Canada and elsewhere.

Just over 3,000 people participated in the online group, in-person events and related groups. “It’s gaining momentum as we start to include Israeli filmmakers, Jewish film festivals and Jewish film students,” Freed adds. “We also have alliances with various other Jewish creative groups in the UK, US and Israel.

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“We promote all of our events as welcoming to Jewish and non-Jewish allies, and most events featured non-Jewish filmmakers. This is only a small portion of the total number of participants – five percent at most – but it is always incredibly heartwarming to remember that the Jewish community has friends and supporters outside of it.”

To further his message and in response to “a world in which there is such a relentless tide of anti-Semitic content,” Freed created a manifesto for Jewish filmmakers in May.

“There are two simultaneous wars against the Jewish people: one on the physical fronts in Gaza and Lebanon and one on the internet and media fronts,” he says.

“We are called the people of the book, but today we must be the people of the film,” Freed said in announcing his manifesto. This means creating satirical, factual or short form content and publishing it across channels around the world.

“The [manifesto] “We can refine and focus our ideas for using creativity to counteract negativity,” Freed explains.

To make an impact, Freed says, we need “writers, actors, directors, producers, editors, composers, [and] Sales partner – and there are many other roles that need to be filled. I’m part of We Make Movies, the largest independent film community in Los Angeles. His ethos, as the name suggests, is to get together and make a film.

“Jewish filmmakers and content creators must fight the vast army of anti-Semitic content creators and more, and we have the ability to do it.”

He states: “Everyone who owns a cell phone has a mini film studio in their pocket.” Context is important. “While the Nazis destroyed visual records of their actions, Palestinians used Go-Pros and Facebook to share their atrocities.”

He believes a good place to start is “to focus on guiding principles for Jewish filmmakers.” Storytelling is at the core of Jewish values and traditions, as the entire Jewish legal code is first conveyed through the narratives of the Torah,” says Freed, an ordained rabbi.

Examples of success include the Jewish Conspiracy Channel on YouTube. The channel is a nod to the claim that Jews control the media and features skits highlighting high-profile anti-Semitic incidents.

Freed believes the channel is “an aspect of raising awareness of anti-Jewish bias, but through the use of satire.”

Other successes were propagated by prominent influencers. Debra Messing, for example, shared Israel-A Slice of Cake, which conveys the centrality of the Holy City to the Jewish people.

Freed adds, “There are others outside of our network who are doing things along these lines, but not specifically within our network.” Eli Doug Staimen, for example, had great success with his character Lyle Culpepper.”

Staimen, a caricature of a clueless American gender studies academic, has documented how his worldview has been challenged by pro-Palestinian activism on campus.

“There’s a lot to be said about how more and more YouTubers are doing this and changing the conversation,” says Freed. “For example, the current documentation We will dance again – a harrowing look into the brutal attack on partygoers at the Supernova music festival.”

This was shown on the British channel BBC2, which was aimed primarily at non-Jewish viewers.

Freed reiterates: “I encourage Jewish filmmakers to welcome non-Jewish allies, continue to unite and strengthen our community, collaborate on projects, use creativity to combat anti-Semitism, and build more connections with Israeli filmmakers.”

“In these times we need community more than ever.” ■

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