In a special joint meeting on October 26, the African American Steering Committee (AASC) and the Jewish Committee (JC) came together for a special conversation with Directors Phil Bertelsen and Sara Wolitzky of the PBS docuseries Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History.
During a conversation moderated by Director Jade Jenise Dixon, Bertelsen and Wolitzky, spoke about the making of the series that explores the shared and divergent experiences, historic alliances, and evolving relationship between Black and Jewish Americans, as well as the craft of telling complex histories with honesty and nuance, and the power of storytelling to foster empathy and understanding.
“Working on this series required us to confront our own biases and perspectives,” said Wolitzky. “We were working on this documentary in the midst of widespread conversations about [racial] injustice and in the midst of the conflict in Gaza escalating. This documentary presented tough conversations about solidarity, but our team was on the same page from the very beginning about the story we were telling.”
“We felt like it was very important to tell lesser-known stories within this documentary that underlined how racial animus adapted when the context changed,” noted Bertelsen. “When we told the story of the 1936 Olympics and how the Nazi's forbid the Jewish track stars from running to avoid embarrassing Hitler and allowed the Black runners to participate instead — we thought it provided a rare glimpse into how these communities shared very specific types of oppression in specific moments. We also felt it was crucial to show how the different experiences also created different outcomes — particularly amongst Jewish immigrants who worked to assimilate into American culture.”
Both Directors spoke of the impact working on the project had for them personally and how bringing stories like these to life feel crucial particularly in moments of intracommunity tension. They also spoke of the hope that they share around how these two communities shared histories can also serve as an opportunity to be in closer community again.
About the Panelists:
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Phil Bertelsen
Sara Wolitzky
Jade Jenise Dixon (moderator)
About the African American Steering Committee
The African American Steering Committee (AASC) was born of a desire to address the specific needs of the African-American members of the Guild with goal of advancing career and job opportunities. The Committee meets several times a year, planning events throughout the year celebrating the achievements of African Americans, as well as forums with industry executives.
About the Jewish Committee
In February 2024, the DGA National Board granted provisional status to a new committee to address various issues of concern to the DGA’s Jewish members, including issues related to employment and rising anti-Semitism in the workplace and its impact on film and television. Members wishing to join the Jewish Committee will need to self-identify via their account settings. They may also opt to receive email about the events and meetings for any of the Guild’s Diversity Committees by updating their email addresses and subscription preferences as part of Email Settings in their personal account.
