Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Unveils First Permanent Exhibit ‘Hollywoodland’ Dedicated to Jewish History in the Industry
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has officially announced its first permanent exhibit, one dedicated to the Jewish history of the film industry.
The museum presents “Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Movie Capital,” which will be on view beginning May 19, 2024. Presented in English and Spanish, the exhibit tells the origin story of filmmaking in early 20th-century Los Angeles, spotlighting the impact of the predominately Jewish filmmakers whose establishment of the American film studio system transformed Los Angeles into a global epicenter of cinema.
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“The American film industry began developing amid an influx of immigration to the United States by Jewish émigrés escaping European pogroms and poverty,” curator Dara Jaffe said in a press statement. “Most of Hollywood’s founders were among this wave of Jewish immigrants and recognized that the infant movie business presented an opportunity to raise their marginalized status in an industry that didn’t enforce the same antisemitic barriers as many other professions. ‘Hollywoodland’ also posits the question: how and why did Los Angeles bloom into a world-renowned cinema capital? The goal of our exhibition is to show the inextricable dovetailing of these histories.”
“Hollywoodland” is curated by museum associate curator Jaffe with support from Gary Dauphin, former associate curator of digital presentations, and Josue L. Lopez, research assistant. Author and film critic Neal Gabler is an advisor for the exhibition.
“We are so proud to bring this foundational story of American filmmaking to the museum as a permanent exhibition,” Academy Museum director and president Jacqueline Stewart said. “The stories told in ‘Hollywoodland’ bring the intertwined histories of Los Angeles and the Hollywood studio system to life and resonate with stories of immigrants from around the world.”
The exhibit also includes two special events on May 19, with a book signing with Neal Gabler of “An Empire of their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood” followed by a curator conversation between Gabler and Jaffe, moderated by Stewart.
The immersive exhibit will be located in the museum’s LAIKA Gallery and organized into three distinct parts: Studio Origins, an exploration of the founding of Hollywood’s original eight “major” film studios (often referred to as “the majors”) and their respective studio heads; Los Angeles: From Film Frontier to Industry Town, 1902–1929, an immersive projection experience where visitors trace the evolving landscape of Los Angeles alongside the advancement of the movie industry; and “From the Shtetl to the Studio: The Jewish Story of Hollywood,” a short form documentary, narrated by TCM host and author Ben Mankiewicz, that illustrates the experiences of the Jewish immigrants and first-generation Jewish Americans who were primarily responsible for building the Hollywood studio system.
The Academy Museum previously faced backlash in 2022 for its alleged lack of inclusion of Black and Jewish voices. Museum director Bill Kramer announced two programs at the time aimed for more museum inclusion, including “Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971” and “Hollywoodland,” which is now opening after two years despite initially having a Spring 2023 slated debut.
The exhibit is sponsored by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, Margo and Irwin Winkler, A. Scott Berg and Kevin McCormick, Jeffrey Berg and Denny Luria, the Jules Brenner Trust, Bronni Stein Connolly, Dorchester Collection, William Fox, Jr. Foundation, Adam and Abbe Aron, the Ronald L. Blanc Family, Barbara Roisman Cooper and Martin M. Cooper, the Mark Gordon Family, Hawk and Molly Koch and Family, Peter, Melissa, and Emma Koss, Gail and Warren Lieberfarb in Memory of Ted Ashley, and Elaine Mae Woo. Additional support provided by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture and David Berg Foundation. Academy Museum Digital Engagement Platform sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
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