by FIlmInk Staff
Jump Street Films today announced that Idan Kotzen will receive the inaugural Jewish Australian Screen Fellowship, valued at $20,000.
Based in Queensland and currently Panavision’s Branch Manager on the Gold Coast, Kotzen is an emerging director, cinematographer and animator who has supported camera departments on major upcoming international productions including Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, The Mosquito Bowl and Honeymoon with Harry.
As the recipient of the fellowship, he will spend the next 12 months bringing the short horror film GOLEM to life – from refining the screenplay to undertaking cultural and religious research, exploring the creature design and testing practical effects, all the way through to production and beyond, including planning for an expanded film.
Jump Street Films director Jamie Bialkower says that “the opportunity to embark on a contemporary horror film underpinned by a personal, distinctly Jewish perspective is hugely exciting. Idan’s pitch, ambitious but focused, particularly resonated in the context of using genre to explore aspects of inherited trauma and survival under threat, speaking directly to the current climate”.
CARLY BRAND NAMED AS HONORARY FELLOW
Jump Street Films will also support Carly Brand as an Honorary Fellow as she writes the screenplay for the feature film NICE JEWISH GIRLS. Brand’s VCA-graduate short film Nice Jewish Girl recently had its World Premiere at BFI Flare, London’s biggest queer cinema showcase. Set during a transformative week at a religious school camp, the feature will follow four teenage girls as they explore sex, identity, desire and faith within the stifling confines of their patriarchal upbringing.
Brand is based in Melbourne.
Established to support the creative and professional development of a Jewish Australian filmmaker, the fellowship places emphasis on authenticity and visibility, with the ultimate aim of advancing the depiction of Jewish Australians on screen. Bialkower says that he “hopes the funding has inspired someone who may have been inclined to look away, and provided an incentive for them to look forward”.
