Michael Douglas salutes son, famous dad in accepting Genesis Prize for Jewish commitment

June 19, 2015

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Actor Michael Douglas credited his son and celebrity father for helping him reconnect to Judaism as he accepted the Genesis Prize, “the Jewish Nobel,” in Jerusalem.

Douglas, an Academy Award winner, accepted the $1 million award on...

New PBS special examines ‘Seeds of Conflict’ in the Middle East

June 19, 2015

By TOM TUGEND

LOS ANGELES (JTA) – Conflict between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East now appears a permanent condition, but it didn’t have to be that way, according to a one-hour PBS special premiering on June 30.

“1913:...

Ron Moody, Jewish actor best known for playing Fagin, dies at 91

June 12, 2015

(JTA) — Ron Moody, a British Jewish actor best known for playing a character historically considered an anti-Semitic stereotype, has died at 91.

Moody, who played the Jewish criminal Fagin in the stage and film versions of “Oliver,” an adaptation...

Jerusalem-based series ‘Dig’ cancelled after one season

June 10, 2015

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The American television drama series “Dig,” which was filmed in Jerusalem, reportedly has been cancelled after one season.

The USA Network decided to cancel the series after soft ratings, the Seriable website reported.

The network had planned...

British filmmakers call on theater chain to cancel Israeli film festival

June 09, 2015

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A group of British filmmakers and actors called on a British movie theater chain to cancel an Israeli film festival.

The 39 members of the film industry, including British directors Aki Kaurismäki, Mike Leigh and Ken Loach,...

Al Pacino pulls out of play over playwright’s support of Hitler

May 29, 2015

(JTA) — American actor Al Pacino decided not to appear in a play because of the playwright’s support for Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.

Pacino pulled out last week from a stage adaptation of “Hunger,” by Norwegian author Knut Hamsun,...

Rapper Ice Cube accused of beating up rabbi

May 28, 2015

By GABE FRIEDMAN

(The Telegraph) — Ice Cube has never had the most cordial relationship with the Jewish community. In 1991, the Simon Wiesenthal Center condemned his album “Death Certificate,” noting that many lyrics were racist and one of the...

The Holocaust film that is upending the genre – and other Jewish notes from Cannes

May 26, 2015

By GABE FRIEDMAN

(JTA) — Given the long and storied history of the Holocaust film genre, it’s unusual for a new movie on the subject to be lauded as innovative.

But the new film “Son of Saul,” the first by...

Hitchcock Holocaust film finds an audience after 70 years

May 21, 2015

By GABRIELLE BIRKNER

NEW YORK (JTA) — “This was a woman,” the narrator explains, as the camera pans over a figure so emaciated and burnt that it’s barely recognizable as human.

It’s one of the more arresting scenes in “German Concentration Camps...

Why ‘Mad Men’ was one of TV’s most deeply Jewish shows

May 19, 2015

By GABE FRIEDMAN

(JTA) — AMC’s ad campaign for the second half of the final season of “Mad Men” centered on the phrase “The End of an Era.” The clever double meaning of the phrase was that this was not only the...