Philadelphia Jewish Film + Media 2026 Special Guests
Noam Ash
Writer & Star, BOOKENDS
Saturday, November 14 at 7 p.m.
Philadelphia Clef Club
Noam Ash first gained recognition as the creator of the hit web series MY GAY ROOMMATE and subsequent TV pilot BOY•FRIENDS from Keshet Studios, which garnered over 11 million views and received critical acclaim from Vanity Fair and The New York Times. He guest starred in HBO Max's THE OTHER TWO as well as starred in and executive produced THE INFLUENCERS on Amazon Prime. He appeared in Prime Video's ABSENTIA and subsequently sold a one-hour drama to Sony Pictures Television. BOOKENDS, which he wrote, produced, and stars in, is his debut feature. He is repped by Sweeney Entertainment and HJTH Law.
Dara Bratt
Director, INKED
A NIGHT OF SHORTS
Monday, November 16 at 7 p.m.
The Weitzman
Dara Bratt is a passionate storyteller dedicated to unveiling cinematic beauty in all her work. With a talent for revealing the essence of her subjects, she excels in capturing authentic and engaging interviews, whether for feature films or 30-second commercials. Collectively, her films have screened all over the world, including Tribeca, SXSW, Cannes, Abu Dhabi International Film Festival, Savannah Film Festival, ShortShorts Tokyo and many more. She is the recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan Production grant, the FAP grant from the National Film Board of Canada, the Tribeca Film Institute Sloan Award, the documentary grant from the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts, and Sciences, the production grant from First Look Films for Topic, and most recently, was the 2023 Claims Conference short production film grant recipient. Dara holds her MFA in film from Tisch School of the Arts, NYU. Born and raised in Montreal, she now calls Brooklyn, NY home.
Nancy LaPook Diamond
Producer, The Whistle
A NIGHT OF SHORTS
Monday, November 16 at 7 p.m.
The Weitzman
A wearer of many hats, Nancy brings decades of experience in film, theatre, television production, and marketing. She was a member of the launch teams for Pinwheel, MTV, and TodayTix, and, in addition to producing The Whistle, has worked on projects including For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When The Rainbow is Enuf, Solomon Northup’s Odyssey, Sophie and the Rising Sun, Out of My Head, Before and After Dinner and The Birds and The Bees.
Mike Doyle
Director, BOOKENDS
Saturday, November 14 at 7 p.m.
Philadelphia Clef Club
Mike Doyle's feature film debut, SELL BY, which he wrote and directed, premiered in Toronto in 2019 at Inside Out, then traveled the festival circuit garnering awards including best feature, best screenplay, and best director. It was acquired by Netflix under the title ALMOST LOVE, and stars Kate Walsh, Scott Evans, Augustus Prew, Michelle Buteau, and Patricia Clarkson. His next feature, PASSING THROUGH, premiered in April 2023 in Torino, Italy, at the 38th Lover's Film Festival and is now enjoying a great run on all major platforms. Mike's first film, SHINER, a short starring Amy Ryan, premiered at Tribeca and launched his directing career. Mike most recently directed the short films CLEMENTINE, VARIATIONS, and THE CHASE. Mike is executive producing and writing the series TODO POR AMOR with director Jayro Bustamante. Additionally, Mike is co-creating a new series, set up at Netflix. Mike became WGA when he was hired by Judd Apatow and Universal to pen the comedy, UNTITLED GAY MARRIAGE. Mike is a veteran actor, with years of experience in film and television, working with greats like Clint Eastwood (Jersey Boys), Karyn Kusama (The Invitation), Richard LaGravenese (You're Not You), Nancy Savoca (Union Square), & Martin Campbell (Green Lantern) to name a few. He was last seen in FALLOUT, NBC's NEW AMSTERDAM and Showtime's CITY ON A HILL. Mike holds a BS in economics from Georgetown, and he trained as an actor at The Juilliard School.
Dr Anna Goldenberg
Subject of THE ASSET
Friday, November 13 at noon
The Weitzman
Rooted in her core values of service and living a life of purpose, Dr. Anna Goldenberg is a trauma surgeon, educator, and mentor at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey. She completed her surgical training at UMDNJ and further advanced her expertise through a trauma and critical care fellowship at Cooper University Hospital. Dr. Goldenberg’s clinical interests lie in advancing trauma care, as she serves as the Trauma Research Director, where she leads evidence-based clinical research initiatives. Maintaining a meaningful connection to Israel, Dr. Goldenberg strengthens bonds through family ties, friendships, and international medical collaborations. Following the tragic loss of her friend and former trauma protégé , Dr. Shachar Shimonovich, she fulfilled his final wish by bringing the Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET) course to Israel in 2024. What began as an act of remembrance became a mission of service. Since then, she has returned four additional times to train Israeli surgeons, strengthening trauma preparedness while honoring Dr. Shimonovich’s enduring legacy of saving lives through education and collaboration.
Lauren Greenhall
Director, THAT'S HOW YOU MAKE A TORAH
A NIGHT OF SHORTS
Monday, November 16 at 7 p.m.
The Weitzman
Lauren Greenhall is a Webby-nominated filmmaker whose work explores how joy is a catalyst for lasting social change and self-realization. Greenhall was a 2021 resident at the Jewish Film Institute for "ZELDA"–a documentary about an ultra-orthodox Jewish woman and her relationship with her wig–and was awarded the FY2024 Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts towards the completion of this film. She also received the 2024 DCJCC Matthew Harris Ornstein JxJ Short Film Fund for her documentary short about female Torah scribes and was selected as a 2025 participant in the New York Jewish Artists retreat, presented by Asylum Arts and the Neighborhood. Other short documentaries include "The Frock" (NYPost), "Abby Stein" (Inside Edition) and the "Muslims in America" series (HuffPost). The virality of this series landed her the opportunity to speak at NYU about the relationship between religion and the media. She also directed Milk Riders, a short documentary that received international attention and was featured on the New York Times, Slate, Refinery 29, HuffPost, and Bust among others. Additionally, Greenhall has directed fiction feature films for hire, music videos, and branded documentary series as well as TV and video for Nat Geo, The New Yorker, Matador Records, CBS Interactive, ViceTV, Amazon Originals, and Marvel among others.
Alison Klayman
Director, SCENES FROM THE DIVIDE
A NIGHT OF SHORTS
Monday, November 16 at 7 p.m.
The Weitzman
Alison Klayman is an award-winning director who makes movies about some of the most prominent people and stories of our time. Big issues, big stakes, and major historical events crisscross her films, even while she brings viewers into these worlds with a singularly intimate and humorous touch. AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY showed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei hanging out with his cats at his Beijing studio and also getting assaulted by police for his activism. It was awarded with a Special Jury Prize at Sundance and put Alison on the NYT’s list of 20 Directors to Watch. JAGGED drew from Alanis Morrisette’s personal video archive to explore what it was like to become a musical sensation at the age of 21. In THE BRINK , Alison followed rightwing strategist Steve Bannon as he tried to build a coalition of far-right radicals in the US and Europe. In his NYT Critic’s Pick review, A.O. Scott praised the film as “unnervingly entertaining…horror alternates with grim comedy.” Her films have been shortlisted for an Academy Award and have received multiple prizes, including from the Sundance Film Festival, the Peabody Awards and the duPont-Columbia Awards. Her Netflix Original film TAKE YOUR PILLS was an international hit, while WHITE HOT was the most-watched film on Netflix’s platform when it was released. Her most recent feature, UNFINISHED BUSINESS, spotlighted the New York Liberty over a season on the cusp of the team and the WNBA going mainstream in US sports. It had repeat broadcasts on ESPN after premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Madeline Kohn
Subject of I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M DOING HERE
Tuesday, November 17 at 7 p.m.
The Weitzman
Madeline “Mima” Kohn is a recent college graduate from the Philadelphia area. She is passionate about historic preservation and community development, and is pursuing a career in real estate development in New York City. All of her grandparents were Holocaust survivors from diverse backgrounds, all of whom influenced Mima’s upbringing and that of her six older siblings. Mima is active in her own Jewish community, as well as interfaith spaces. Her undergraduate research focused on demographic and economic changes within urban religious communities, from synagogues in Helsinki to churches in New York City. She is particularly interested in the history of diaspora Jewish communities, including that of her grandmother, Esther, the inspiration for this film.
Gary Kramer
Moderator, BOOKENDS
Saturday, November 14 at 7 p.m.
Philadelphia Clef Club
Gary M. Kramer writes about film for Cineaste, Senses of Cinema, and Slant as well as Gay City News, Philadelphia Gay News, The San Francisco Bay Times, and MovieJawn. He has contributed to Salon, BOMB, and Indiewire, among other publications. He is the author of Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews, and the co-editor of Directory of World Cinema Argentina, Volumes 1 & 2. Kramer is on the advisory board of and contributor to the journal Short Film Studies. He is the moderator of the weekly film discussion group Cinema Salon and teaches Short Attention Span Cinema at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute.
Jacob Pincus
Director, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M DOING HERE
Tuesday, November 17 at 7 p.m.
The Weitzman
Jacob Pincus is a filmmaker, artist, and organizer living in Los Angeles, CA. After dropping out of USC film school, Pincus began working on his first feature documentary about a road trip through Romania with his dear friend in search of her lost family history. Pincus owns Cove Films, a film production company, and is the executive director of Our Art Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding artists and their work. When not filmmaking, Pincus serves as the Assistant Producer at New Theater Hollywood presenting various forms of live performance work with renowned artists and theatermakers from around the world. Pincus has also spent years as a leader in communal and political organizing spaces, working to strengthen young people's identities and shift narratives surrounding Israel/Palestine to be focused on justice and a shared future. Most people call him just "Pincus."
Steven Pressman
Director, DUST BOWLS AND JEWISH SOULS:
ANOTHER SIDE OF WOODY GUTHRIE
Saturday, November 21 at 7 p.m.
The Weitzman
Steven Pressman was born and raised in Los Angeles and received an undergraduate degree in political science at the University of California, Berkeley. Before becoming a filmmaker, Steve had a long career as a newspaper and magazine journalist, working as a reporter or editor at a variety of publications in Los Angeles, Washington DC and San Francisco. Steve's first documentary film was 50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus, which premiered on HBO in 2013 and received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Historical Programming. He has since made four other documentary films – each of them focused on little-known stories that are rooted in American-Jewish history. Dust Bowls and Jewish Souls: Another Side of Woody Guthrie premiered in June at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival and earlier this month won the audience award for Best Documentary at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
Michael Rapaport
AM I CANCELLED YET?
Sunday, November 15 at 7 p.m.
The Weitzman
Michael Rapaport is a New York–born actor, comedian, and cultural commentator whose career spans over three decades across film, television, and audio. He broke out in the 1990s with standout roles in True Romance, Higher Learning, and Cop Land, and went on to appear in films like Deep Blue Sea and The Heat. On television, he’s known for memorable roles on Friends, Boston Public, Prison Break, Justified, and Atypical. Beyond acting, Rapaport directed the acclaimed documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest and hosts the popular I Am Rapaport Stereo Podcast, where his unfiltered takes on culture, sports, and politics have made him a polarizing and unmistakable voice.
Andriette Redmann
Producer , THE KID OFFICER
Monday, November 16 at 2 p.m.
The Weitzman
Andriette Redmann is an Emmy Award–winning producer, writer, and interviewer known for her work on The Kid Officer and They Survived Together. She served as producer, writer, and principal interviewer for both films. Redmann also interviews Holocaust survivors for the USC Shoah Foundation, established by Steven Spielberg. Her musical group, Avon Faire, contributed the main theme songs for both productions, adding a distinctive musical dimension to her storytelling.
John Rokonsky
Director , THE KID OFFICER
Monday, November 16 at 2 p.m.
The Weitzman
John Rokosny is an award-winning producer and director with 30 years of experience in film, television and music. His new documentary film, The Kid Officer, tells the story of Holocaust survivor Fred Biermann’s escape from Vienna and journey to Mandatory Palestine. His last film, They Survived Together, aired nationally on PBS and earned a NY Emmy Award for Best Historical Documentary, and several other festival awards. Most recently, John has filmed nearly 100 Holocaust survivors for The Shoah Foundation, founded by Steven Spielberg.
Lorin Sklamberg of the Klezmatics
DUST BOWLS AND JEWISH SOULS: ANOTHER SIDE OF WOODY GUTHRIE
Saturday, November 21 at 7 p.m.
The Weitzman
Lorin Sklamberg has been the lead singer of the Grammy Award winning Jewish American roots band the Klezmatics since its founding during the heyday of the alternative music scene in New York’s East Village in the mid 1980s. His work as vocalist, composer and multi-instrumentalist can be heard on some 50 recordings, solo and in collaboration with such diverse artists as Itzhak Perlman, Don Byron, Uri Caine, Matt Darriau, Rob Schwimmer, Jane Siberry, Marc Cohn, Tony Kushner, Moxy Früvous, the Western Wind, the Klezmatics and, of course, Constantinople.