JEWS AT THE OSCARS

Jews in the Newz by Nate Bloom
This isn't a huge Jewish year at the Oscars. There's aren't an especially large amount of Jewish nominees or a big "Jewish themed" picture, like "The Pianist," to draw attention to the always important Hollywood Jewish community. As a matter of fact, this is the year of the black performer, with black actors and actresses snaring five acting category nominations.

It is somehow fitting, then, that first Jewish "person of color" to get an Oscar nomination, actress Sophie Okonedo, 33, is among the nominees. Okonedo, a respected English stage actress, was nominated for best supporting actress for "The Hotel Rwanda," about the 1994 genocidal massacre of Rwandan Tutsis by their Hutu countrymen. Okonedo is daughter of a 'white' British Jewish mother (who raised her) and a Nigerian father. (It's nice to note that she wore a lovely Star of David while on David Letterman's show last month).

She told Newsweek that she grew up in public housing and that in their small apartment they had a big bookcase with tons of books. One day, Okonedo said, a housing project inspector, assuming that poor people don't read, said to her mother, "What do you do with all those books?' Well, the actress said, her mother recently called her and said, "Well, that bloke knows what we did with the books now."

The parallels with the Jewish Shoah were on the minds of many who helped make the film — from Okonedo, who told the Los Angeles Jewish Journal that she went to the Belgian Shoah museum to help research her role; to the Israel Bank Leumi — which helped finance the film; to Jewish executive producers Hal Sadoff and Martin Katz.

Competing with Okonedo is Natalie Portman, 24, who first gained fame at age 14 in "Star Wars — -The Phantom Menace." The pretty actress is nominated for playing a stripper in famous Jewish director Mike Nichols' film, "Closer" (from the play by Jewish playwright Patrick Marber). Unlike many other others who became stars at a young age, Portman has not let fame go to her head and she has — dare we say? — been a role model.

Portman's parents are both the children of Holocaust survivors and Natalie was born in Jerusalem to an Israeli-father and an American mother. She grew up in the New York area and was discovered by a model's agent at age 11. She arranged to film her last two Star Wars picture during her breaks from Harvard University, which she graduated with honors in 2003. While at Harvard, she defended Israel from charges of racism with eloquent letters to the University paper. During the past year she has studied at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

Also in the the past year, Portman scored a major critical and box-office hit with "Garden State," co-starring (Jewish actor) Zach Braff. Braff, who wrote and directed the film, says it probably would not have been made without Portman. He wrote her a personal letter and they met after she read the script. She liked the script and signed on for a modest salary. Braff could then get financing since he had a "name actress" attached to the project.

Portman's next film is "The Free Zone," now being filmed in Israel and directed by the famous Israeli Amos Gitai. She plays an American Jew in the film and speaks in both Hebrew and English (the actress is fluent in Hebrew).

While no other Jews are nominated for an Oscar in acting, four flicks directed by Jews produced acting nominees this year — Hungarian Jewish director Istavan Szabo (Annette Benning, "Being Julia"); Joshua Marston (Catalina Moreno, "Maria Full of Grace"); Michael Mann (Jamie Foxx, "Collateral"); and Brit Mike Leigh (Imelda Staunton, "Vera Drake").

Also nominated for best screenplay is Charlie Kaufman, who wrote "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." The Long-Island raised Kaufman describes himself as having a 'normal' Jewish upbringing. "Eternal Sunshine," like Kaufman's other Oscar nominated scripts ("Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation"), is distinctive in that it explores the inner mind of characters via a dream-like logic that somehow makes sense.

Thank Michael Moore for at least one thing: People are now paying more attention to documentaries. Competing for the best short documentary award is "Sister Rose's Passion," a riveting film about an elderly New Jersey nun who has battled anti-Semitism for decades and was instrumental in reforming the Catholic church's teachings about Jews. The Oscar-nominated director is Oren Jacoby, who says that making this film brought him closer to his Jewish side. (His filmmaker father is Jewish and was nominated 46 years ago in the same category).

Over in the best long documentary category is "Born into Brothels," about the children of Calcutta prostitutes. The director is Zana Briski, whose Iraqi Jewish mother now lives in Israel. Briski's Oscar co-nominee Ross Kaufman, the film's co-producer and co-photographer, is also Jewish. Briski, we should add, didn't just film her subjects — she taught the children photography and worked to get them into boarding schools.

The music categories are "Jewish light" this year — with just one very cool Jew — rocker Adam Duritz of "Counting Crows" fame — nominated. Duritz co-wrote the song, "Accidentally in Love" from "Shrek 2."

Already an Oscar winner is David Samuelson, a British film exec who co-invented a camera-mounting device that has revolutionized filmmaking. Samuelson, 80, got the news that he was getting a technical Oscar not long after he celebrated his bar mitzvah. You see when Samuelson was a boy he attended a synagogue with a very strict rabbi. So strict that he barred Samuelson from the synagogue when he found out the boy had taken a train on the Sabbath — even though Samuelson took the train to avoid being late for services. Until last year, the Oscar winner didn't know he could have a bar mitzvah celebration at any age.

Likewise, already sure of their awards are director Sidney Lumet and film executive Roger Mayer. Lumet, 80, is being honored with a lifetime achievement Oscar. While this son of a Yiddish-theater actor is most famous for huge hits like "Dog Day Afternoon" and "12 Angry Men," Lumet also made "The Pawnbroker," still one of the most gripping Holocaust films and "Bye, Bye, Braverman," a little-known comedic gem about Jewish intellectuals. Lumet will discuss "The Pawnbroker" in the AMC cable documentary, "Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust," premiering April 5.

Mayer, who is president of Turner Entertainment, will receive the humanitarian award. His philanthropy includes film charities and the United Jewish Welfare Fund.

We should mention Oscar show director Gil Cates, a nice Jewish guy who many say is taking quite a chance by picking the sometimes acid-tongued black comedian Chris Rock to host the Oscars this year. The director, who is the uncle of actress Phoebe Cates, says the reason is simple, "Chris Rock is funny."

Finally, it is likely that Jamie Foxx will win the best actor Oscar for "Ray," about the life of singer Ray Charles. It's great to see the legendary singer being rediscovered by a new generation. One fact about Charles that isn't in the film is his decades long commitment to supporting the State of Israel. While Charles was generally quiet about his philanthropy, he was proud to mention his support of Israel. This included touring Israel — where he met with then Prime Minister Ben Gurion — and being named B'Nai Brith "Man of the Year." The Oscars will be on February 27th, ABC.