Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media

Nature of operations Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media (the organization) is one of the longest-running Jewish Film festivals in the country and philadelphias first Film festival. In july 2021, the organization expanded its mission to include new Media to align with its mission, and formally changed its name to Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media. The organization creates connection and community through Jewish cinema and digital storytelling. The organization welcomes everyone to engage with Jewish culture and values through its educational and entertaining year- round programs. The organization believes that today's storytellers are tomorrow's changemakers, poets, philosophers, and visionaries. While cinema remains the organization's focus and legacy, Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media deems it important to highlight new and innovative ways Jewish stories are created and shared today. The organization uses "Media" as an umbrella term to encompass "new Media," "Media arts,- and "digital storytelling" essentially digitally created content -- artistic or otherwise -- that is shared and distributed through the internet. While the advent of digital filmmaking democratized cinematic storytelling in the 21st century, "the web" (blogs, online magazines, social Media, on-demand video and music streaming platforms) paved the way for anyone with access to digital technology and an internet connection to generate content, share stories, and exhibit their art with audiences worldwide. In addition to changing the way people interact, communicate, share stories, and experience art in our current digital age, these new forms of Media have also provided a means for underrepresented artists to share their work and find engaged and enthusiastic audiences. History the organization traces its origins back to the young mens hebrew association (ymha), originally formed in 1875 to serve as a cultural, educational, and social meeting place for the Jewish community. In 1924, the ymha merged with the young womens hebrew society (ywhs) and moved to the corner of broad and pine streets. In september 2009, the organization separated from the Jewish community centers of greater Philadelphia of which the former had been a constituent site and became an independent organization. In may 2018, the organization decided to make organizational changes that impacted various aspects of the organization including leadership, programming, facilities, and a new budget that reflected the changes. The board of directors had adopted a strategic plan in february 2016. Upon the inception of new leadership in 2018, the strategic plan and supporting constituents surveys were evaluated further. It was apparent to new leadership from the statistical findings and community feedback that 72% of the organizations patrons were exclusively attending and interested in the organizations Film programming arm: Philadelphia Jewish Film festival (pjff). The organization made the informed decision to narrow the scope of the organization to focus on Film and film-related programs inspired by Jewish values and culture. It was a purposeful and logical step by the organization. It streamlines the organizations purpose which allows it to focus on the highly visible and well-known flagship Film programming.