Not All Jews Have Money: Tragedy Inspires New Documentary

Apr 16 2012

Do American Jews really have money? That is the burning question that French filmmaker Sasha Andreas (picture above) asks himself after volunteering in a Kibbutz in Israel. He decided to figure this out in a new documentary. “I’m not Jewish myself, but I have met a lot of Jewish people in my life, including when I was in Israel,” Andreas tells Abanibi.“In the kibbutz there were only two or three families who were rich.”

This is how the idea for “Jews got Money,” or as they spell it provocatively, “J£w$ Got Mon€¥”, was born. “My motivation for this film is to debunk the myth that all Jewish people have money. I think it’s a very dangerous cliché and this ignorance fuels hatred.”

Do you have an example of why this prejudice is dangerous?


“There was a story in my home country, France, about the young Ilan Halimi who was kidnapped, tortured and murdered by a gang who assumed that he “had money” because he was a Jew. You and I know, it is not true, many Jewish people have lived and still live in poverty, even in the US.”
For his documentary, currently in pre-production with plans to shoot in New York next month, Andreas is looking to Jewish people living in poverty in New York City and also philanthropists and associations who are focused on helping them. “It is important to talk about solidarity, and it will hopefully help them attract donations,” he says.

“Jews Got Money” will be Andreas’ first documentary. He teamed up with producer Anna Heim, who’s an online journalist at The Next Web, with a background in film & TV distribution, and also involved experienced film editor Ludovic Schoendoerffer (son of late Oscar winner Pierre Schoendoerffer) who lives in Paris. “Our documentary will be in English in order to reach an international audience,” he says, “hopefully on TV and in theaters, but also at festivals and schools around the world.”

For any ideas and interview suggestions you can contact “Jews Got Money” on Twitter: @jewsgottwitt3r or send us an email to write-us@abbanibi.com and we’ll forward it to the production.

http://www.abbanibi.com/blog/not-all-jews-have-money-tragedy-inspires-new-documentary/