Outcry over Sparse Representation of Jews in Movie History at New Academy Museum in Hollywood

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, which aims to enshrine a century of movie-making in Hollywood, is facing criticism because its exhibits exclude the Jewish filmmakers who played key roles in launching the industry.

Donor and influential academy members have complained that there is no mention of the mostly immigrant Jews who established the industry after escaping persecution in their home countries, Rolling Stone magazine reported.

Some patrons have threatened to pull support over the issue, sources familiar with the developments told the magazine in a report published Thursday.

The museum opened on September 25 last year with a star-studded event but already at the time some were raising questions about what was missing from the displays.

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, who was at the gala opening, told the magazine of his disappointment at what appeared to him to be a “glaring omission.”

“As I walked through, I literally turned to the person I was there with and said to him, ‘Where are the Jews?’” he said.

“I would’ve hoped that any honest historical assessment of the motion picture industry — its origins, its development, its growth — would include the role that Jews played in building the industry from the ground up,” Greenblatt said.