As a fiscal sponsor, The National Center for Jewish Film serves as a non-profit tax-exempt umbrella organization that accepts and administers contributions made to select film projects.
Fiscal sponsorship allows filmmakers to solicit and receive tax deductible donations from individuals and gifts from foundations without having to create a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
The National Center for Jewish Film (NCJF) is a 501(c)(3). NCJF is an independent not-for-profit organization. Brandeis University is not affiliated with this fiscal sponsorship program.
Fiscal sponsorship does not provide funds, grants or any monetary funding. Nor does the fiscal sponsor fundraise or solicit donations for individual film projects.
For full program description, rules and application, send an email with your contact information to rivo(at)brandeis(dot)edu.
Films currently in production under
NCJF's Fiscal Sponsorship Program
50 Children: The Rescue Mission
of Mr. and Mrs. KrausPRODUCER/ DIRECTOR: STEVE PRESSMAN
In 1939, Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus, a Jewish couple from Philadelphia, traveled to Berlin and Vienna in order to rescue 50 Jewish children from Nazi-controlled Austria. 50 Children is a documentary film that tells the dramatic story of how they succeeded despite an indifferent U.S. government and the looming Holocaust in Europe.
The film premiered on HBO in April 2013, and the filmmaker is now raising funds for an educational curriculum and outreach program that will bring this important story to educators and students throughout the United States.
IN PRODUCTION
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
PRODUCER/ DIRECTOR: STEVE RIVO
Carvalho’s Journey, a documentary film for PBS, tells the story of Solomon Nunes Carvalho (1815-1897), a Sephardic-American Jew born in Charleston, South Carolina, and his life as a groundbreaking explorer, artist, photographer, inventor, memoirist, and pioneer in American history.
View Trailer
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
PRODUCER/ DIRECTOR: PAUL HIRSCSHBERGER
In the epicenter of the Middle East conflict, an aggressive new sport plays out at Kraft stadium in the heart of Jerusalem. Israel’s weekend warriors team up, suit up, don helmets over their kippahs, and charge the field for a season of full-contact American Tackle Football, revealing pieces of themselves and their world along the way. Secular or religious, Israeli-born or not, these Jews, Muslims and Christians are transformed from ordinary citizens into fierce gridiron competitors on a quest for Israel Bowl glory. Providing a unique insight into the incredible religious and cultural diversity that is Israel, the filmmaker intends to profile players, teams, coaches, officials and fans from three teams throughout one playing season as they learn the calls, execute strategies and bond together as a team.
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
A Weave of Women:
The Book of EstherPRODUCER/ DIRECTOR/ WRITER: LILLY RIVLIN
Esther (E.M.) Broner, Jewish feminist, prolific author, professor,and stalwart pioneer of the Women’s Rights Movement died last June and bequeathed the rich legacy of her inimitable voice, character, and spirit to all humankind. An innovator in reimagining traditional Jewish customs and rituals, Broner co-wrote The Women’s Haggadah, which included women within the conventional structure of Jewish patriarchy. In her most celebrated work, Broner encouraged women to devise their own version of traditional rituals. Leading the first feminist Seder in 1975, she used The Women’s Haggadah in all readings and rituals for the Passover meal. Since then, her work has been used in hundreds, if not thousands, of feminist Seders throughout the world.
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
Theodore Bikel:
In the Shoes of Sholem AleichemPRODUCERS: JOHN LOLLOS & MARSHA LEBBY
This film project focuses on two extraordinary icons– legendary Yiddish playwright Sholom Aleichem and the contemporary stage actor Theodore Bikel– taking us on an journey from the heart of one Jewish cultural treasure into the soul of another. Based on Bikel’s acclaimed stage play “Sholom Aleichem: Laughter Through Tears" which mixes acting, story-telling, music and history, Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholem Aleichem explores the life and art of these two great Jewish legends. The two have much in common– wisdom, humor, humanity, massive talent, and a gift for Yiddish.
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: DAVID BLUMENFELD
Upon discovering a dramatic Holocaust testimony about buried Torahs, Nazi atrocities and Polish collaboration during the final days of his grandfather's shtetl, filmmaker David Blumenfeld embarks on a mission to fulfill the final request of the town's Rabbi: To tell the world what really happened in Ivansk, Poland. During his quest, a front-page scandal breaks out, questioning how the town will be remembered and redefining the complexities of Polish-Jewish relations and the subjectivity of history.
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
PRODUCER/ DIRECTOR: ELIZABETH RYNECKI
In 1939, endeavoring to protect his life's work, Polish Jewish artist Moshe Rynecki deposited 800 of his paintings with gentile friends for safekeeping. Moshe perished in a Nazi concentration camp and his family recovered only 100 of his paintings. Elizabeth Rynecki, Moshe's great-granddaughter, investigates efforts to locate Moshe's lost and plundered work, many of which are known to be in museums and private collections in Poland.
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
DIRECTOR: JACOB SILLMAN
On a cold winter day in 1916, four Russian soldiers arrive at a small poverty-stricken settlement in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. Their mission is to bring fifteen-year-old Moische Glasserman to the local regiment, by any means necessary. Pale of Settlement, Jacob Sillman’s first dramatic feature, tells the true account of Moische’s choice to fight for his life and for justice.
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
PRODUCER/ DIRECTOR: ADAM ZUCKER
The Return examines the world of young Jews living in Poland today, by following the intertwined lives of four young women struggling to create a Jewish identity and community.
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
DIRECTOR: BEN LEWIS
PRODUCERS: NAOMI GRYN & CARL-LUDWIG RETTINGER
Mishpokhe, a four part documentary series to air on BBC, ZDF, Arte, ORF and Noga 8, tells the history of the Jews in the modern period through the intimate lens of family histories. Subjects include a diverse range of Jewish subjects, including rabbis, bankers, Holocaust survivors, race car drivers, boxing champions, entrepreneurs and cabaret artists.
IN PRODUCTION
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
Jewish Partisans:
The True Story of Armed Jewish Resistance During World War IIDIRECTOR/ PRODUCER: JULIA MINTZ
The feature documentary Jewish Partisans will tell the extraordinary story of Jews who fought back against the Nazis during World War II as told by those who personally fought and lived the history. Through candid interviews, eyewitness accounts, and archival materials, the documentary will add to the common understanding of Holocaust history, helping to dispel the myth of Jewish passivity by bringing to life stories of spiritual and armed resistance in the face of annihilation.
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
The King of the Movies:
Siegmund LubinDIRECTOR/ PRODUCER: HENRY NEVISON
The King of the Movies is a full-length (90 minute) documentary feature film on the life and work of America’s first movie mogul: an unlikely Jewish-German immigrant by the name of Siegmund Lubin. Lubin gave with one hand - helping Sam Goldwyn, Cecil B. DeMille, and the Warner Brothers as they entered the business – while taking away with the other, in one of the first documented cases of film piracy.
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
DIRECTOR: MELANIE VI LEVY
In a synagogue with white sand floors, the 350-year-old congregation of Jamaican Jews gathers in the city of Kingston. The Jamaica Projects explores the history of this little-known Jewish community, one which challenges some of our ideas about race, religion and cultural identity.
For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
DIRECTOR: BOB RICHMAN
PRODUCER: ZEVA OELBAUM
Pioneering international foreign correspondent Ruth Gruber defied tradition in an extraordinary career that spanned more than seven decades. With her love of adventure, fearlessness and powerful intellect, She emerged as the eyes and conscience of the world.
USA Premiere - New York Jewish Film Festival, Walter Reade Theater, Lincoln Center January 14, 2010For more about this film and to make a donation towards its production, click here.
Back
to Top
