Meet the Jury: The group tasked with awarding the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival

By AJFF Staff

Every film festival has awards – from the Golden Lion to the Palme d’Or. And subsequently, every film festival has a select group of people tasked with choosing those award winners, and making dreams come true.

The jury of the 2023 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is filled with teachers, filmmakers, students, CEOS, writers, and more. Let’s meet the people who will be deciding the fates of many.

Narrative Feature: The Narrative Feature Prize is awarded to a feature length fiction film that is deemed the best overall.

Nominees: “America,” “Barren,” “Farewell, Mr. Haffmann,” “June Zero,” March ‘68,” “SHTTL”

Yacov Freedman: Freedman is the senior podcast producer of Turner Classic Movies’ documentary “The Plot Thickens.” He holds degrees in film studies from Northwestern and Emory Universities, and has worked as a producer for HLN, Entertainment Tonight, and multiple other television shows. Freedman has written about motion capture, blaxploitation, and auteur studies.

Bruce Goldstein: Goldstein is the founder and artistic director of New York’s Film Forum’s repertory division, as well as the founder and co-president of Rialto Pictures. Goldstein is also a filmmaker in his own right, with shorts like “Uncovering The Naked City” under his belt.

Harper Lazarov: Lazarov recently graduated from the University of Georgia and is completing a certificate with the Georgia Film Academy. Lazarov has experience working on film sets in various capacities, including camera, sound, and grip.

Documentary Feature: The Documentary Feature Prize is awarded to the feature length non-fiction film deemed the best overall.

Nominees: “1341 Frames of Love and War,” “The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes,” “Israel Swings for Gold,” “Reckonings,” “Savoy,” “The Wild One.”

Scot Safon: Safon is a marketing and branding expert who has worked and held leadership roles at companies like CNN, HLN, and TNT. He works as a consultant now, with clients that include Ford, Showtime, and Audible.

Steven Pressman: Before he became a documentary filmmaker, Pressman spent many years as a journalist. He holds a political science degree from Berkeley, and has directed and produced three films that have screened at the Atlanta Jewish Film

Festival: “50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus,” “Holy Silence,” and “The Levys of Monticello.”

Caio Jardim: Jardim is a rising senior at Emory University looking forward to graduating in 2023. He loves both watching and producing romantic comedies and documentaries.

Short Film: The Short Film Prize goes to a film with a run time of 40 minutes or less that is deemed best overall.

Nominees: “Anne,” “Bourn Kind: The Tiny Kindness Project,” “The Caretaker,” “Fledge,” “The Record,” “The Victorias”

Dori Berinstein: Berinstein is a producer, director and writer. She is also a multiple Tony, Olivier, and Emmy Award winner, with credits that include “ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway,” “Carol Channing: Larger Than Life,” and “Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love.” Recently, she co-produced Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of “The Prom” for Netflix.

Felicia Feaster: Feaster is the co-founder of the Atlanta Film Critics Circle, and has years of experience as a critic. She worked as a critic for the Atlanta JournalConstitution and Creative Loafing, and also has writing credits in publications like Elle and The Economist. Feaster is also a managing editor at Warner Bros. Discovery.

Ikki Kaijima: Kaijima is a fourth-year student at Emory University studying film and media.

Emerging Filmmaker: The Emerging Filmmaker Prize goes to a rising creative talent.

Nominees: Gabriel Bier Gislason for “Attachment,” Stéphane Freiss for “Where Life Begins,” Tal Inbar for “Closed Circuit,” Moshe Rosenthal for “Karaoke,” Orit Fouks Rotem for “Cinema Sabaya,” Ady Walter for “SHTTL”

Julie Ann Crommett: Crommett is the founder and CEO of Collective Moxie. She has also held leadership positions at Disney, Google, and NBCUniversal. She has previously appeared on Hollywood Reporter’s 35 Under 35 list.

Todd S. Yellin: Yellin spent 17 years at Netflix as the company’s head of product, but later decided to pivot to filmmaking. His debut feature, “Brother’s Shadow,” played at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival in 2006.

Tara Gause: Gause is a senior majoring in film production at Clayton State University. She made her first capstone short film in 2022, called “You Were Always My Favorite.”

Building Bridges: This award is given to the film that most exemplifies the mission of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.

Nominees: “Cinema Sabaya,” “Converts: The Odyssey of Becoming Jewish,” “Killing Me Softly With His Songs,” “Matchmaking,” “Prophets of Change,” “Stay With Us.”

Stephanie Guiloff: Guiloff is the director of internal communications and advocacy for the American Jewish Committee. Born and raised in Chile, Guiloff earned her MA from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. At the American Jewish Committee, she works to establish the organization’s priorities and goals.

Deidre McDonald: McDonald founded the BronzeLens Film Festival in Atlanta. She is an award-winning television and documentary producer, and has spearheaded a number of initiatives for Clark Atlanta University.

Rebecca Myers: Myers attends the University of Georgia and is completing her master’s in film, television and digital media.

Human Rights: This award is given to the film that best captures the perseverance of those working in the face of bigotry and persecution.

Nominees: “Children of Nobody,” “The Conspiracy,” “Everything Went Fine,” “Exodus 91,” “Simone: Woman of the Century,” “Tantura”

Sharon Rosen Leib: Leib is an awardwinning columnist who regularly writes about combating antisemitism, her family’s history in Hollywood, feminism, and politics. In her prior career, she was a deputy attorney general in California.

Isaac Zablocki: Zablocki is the leading host of Israeli and Jewish films in America and directs the film center at JCC Manhattan. He previously worked at Miramax Films. At the JCC, he runs the Israel Film Center, Other Israel Film Festival, and ReelAbilities Film Festival.

Keshawn Morgan: Morgan attends Morehouse College and is a theater and performance major with a minor in Africana Studies. He is an actor and activist, and has appeared in several student-led theater and film productions. He also landed a role in HBO Max’s “Project Greenlight.”