DIGITAL CHUTZPAH
Where Innovation Meets Jewish Storytelling
As part of Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media’s 45th Annual Festival, Digital Chutzpah celebrates the next wave of Jewish creativity. This special sub-festival within the Festival is dedicated to new media, experimental storytelling, and avant-garde expression. Digital Chutzpah is where filmmakers, digital artists, and visionaries push boundaries and explore what it means to tell Jewish stories in today’s digital age.
Born as PJFM’s showcase for cutting-edge Jewish media, Digital Chutzpah is now fully integrated into our milestone season, bringing audiences face-to-face with the most innovative and genre-blending storytellers working today. From bold visual experiments to immersive digital worlds, this is where tradition meets technology, and imagination meets identity.
Experience Jewish storytelling like never before—only at Digital Chutzpah, part of PJFM’s 45th Film & Media Festival
LOST CAUSE
In this singular meta-narrative art-pop musical, a group of actors workshop a new allegorical musical about a Yom Kippur service turned therapy session for a controversial, unelected bureaucrat.
OF DOGS AND MEN
In the aftermath of October 7, 16-year-old Dar returns to her kibbutz in search of her missing dog, coming across a variety of characters impacted by the ongoing conflict.
DIGITAL CHUTZPAH SHORTS SHOWCASE
This diverse collection of compelling short films each tell unabashedly Jewish stories in ways that are unafraid to experiment with genre, style, and medium. Comprised of stories blending documentary, narrative, meta-theatre, dance, and more, these films feature boundary-pushing artists that bring new layers to Jewish expression.
DIGITAL CHUTZPAH ANIMATED SHORTS SHOWCASE
Each short in this interactive exhibition uses animation in unique, provocative, or experimental ways, representing a wide variety of animation styles and even t intersection between animation and documentary.
Content warning: some of these shorts are for mature audiences only.
VOICES OF THE FORGOTTEN: HOLOCAUST EDUCATION IN GAMING
In this installation, attendees will learn about and experience the work of “Voices of the Forgotten,” Luc Bernard’s singular nonprofit that uses video games to combat antisemitism and preserve Holocaust memory.
DRAWING THE LINE: THE MULTIFACETED ART OF ILLUSTRATION
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but who said the picture had to be strictly two-dimensional? This interactive installation allows viewers to watch and red multiple works that utilize hand-drawn artwork to engage viewers in thoughtful Jewish narratives.
UNAPOLOGETICALLY JEWISH SHOWCASE
Get a closer look at this year’s Unapologetically Jewish contestants and the wide variety of Jewish content they posted on social media in our special annual contest.
DIGITAL CHUTZPAH MUSIC VIDEO COLLECTION
This collection of aesthetically and sonically diverse music videos spotlights Jewish creators who express their visual storytelling, in part, through song. Featuring both live-action and animated stylings, this collection proves that cinematic storytelling can be told through the medium of music videos.