The disabilities film festival, ReelAbilities, is going national this year, as widespread community interest and a major funding commitment from a Jewish philanthropy are taking the festival beyond its New York flagship.
The Cincinnati-based Saul Schottenstein Foundation is offering grants of $5,000 a year for two years to organizations willing to sponsor ReelAbilities festivals in their communities. The foundation is also covering the fees associated with film licensing and volunteer training, and it has paid staff devoted to coordinating the expansion efforts.
The Schottenstein Foundation is not alone in its pursuit of funding opportunities in the disability arena. A growing number of Jewish philanthropies are looking to invest more money, more strategically in the area of special needs programming and services, Andres Spokoiny, president and CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, told the Forward.
“People are realizing that more and more people with disabilities are excluded from the Jewish community, and that has a bad impact on the people suffering from exclusion, but also on the Jewish community, which is missing out on these people,” Spokoiny said.
