About J Street: The Art of the Possible

 

Art of the Possible scenes

J Street is on the frontlines of the world’s most “intractable” problem. An upstart lobby in Washington, D.C., J Street dares to assert what to many seems obvious: that a two-state solution is Israel’s only future, and any peace deal will require robust American participation. It sees itself playing David to the Israel Lobby’s Goliath, and, less than five years old, has been making surprising gains.

This feature length documentary tracks J Street as it attempts to change what it means to be pro-Israel in America. We see their missteps and their triumphs as they struggle to push the Obama administration to take an active role in negotiating a two-state solution.

In this urgent political story told with the intimacy of cinema vérité, we feel the pulse of an organization, taking viewers to high-level strategy meetings, and long nights on the road. It is here that our characters come to life and the J Street story unfolds. Through interviews with high level Israeli politicians and American journalists and thinkers we examine the larger issues surrounding J Street and the politics of the Middle East. It is at once a gripping story about the desperate need for a two-state solution and an insightful document of the American political process at work.

CREDITS:

Written and Directed by
Ben Avishai and Ken Winikur

Produced by
Ken Winikur

Editors
Tim Raycroft
Andrew Kukura

Featuring (In Alphabetical Order)
Bernard Avishai
Jeremy Ben-Ami
Peter Beinart
Alan Dershowitz
Thomas Friedman
Carinne Luck
Ehud Olmert
Khalil Shikaki
Amy Spitalnick
Hadar Suskind
Lawrence Wilkerson

Appearing (In Alphabetical Order)
Howard Dickstein
Matthew Dorf
Jim Gerstein
Jerry Hirsch
Dan Kalik
Daniel Levy
Rick Levy
Isaac Luria
Hagit Ofran
Rabbi David Saperstein
Daniel Seidemann
Rachel Streitfeld
Rabbi Andrew Vogel
Rabbi Bruce Warshal
Orit Zuaretz

Co-Producer / Location Sound Mixer
Ben Avishai

Cinematography
Jeremy Leach
Ken Winikur

Associate Producer
Melissa Langer

Animation
Stephen LoVerme

Music
P. Andrew Willis

Additional Music
Joel Roston

Additional Cinematography
Tanya Aizikovich
Pascal Dieckmann
Natasha Dudinski
Cheryl Hess
Richard Whymark
Tony Flanagan

Post Finishing Facility
Modulus Studios

Online and Color Correction
Josh Foisey
Karl Tacheron

Sound Mixing
Damon Addleman

Sound Design
Eleanor Osborne

Finishing Production
Kristen Clifford

Animation Consultant
Francois Berelowitch

Production Assistants
Heather Hoglund
Liza Hudock
Joe Sherman
James Zhen

Archival Research
Rich Remsberg

Project Advisors
Bernard Avishai
Peter Beinart

This film was made possible
with the generous support of

LEF Foundation
Amy Adina Shulman Foundation
Voqal Foundation

Special Thanks
Amy Thompson Avishai
Bernard Avishai and Sidra Fzrahi
Susan Avishai and Bob Bernstein
Sofia and Jora Thompson Avishai
Patricia and Robert Barshay
Henry and Leah Langsam
Kathryn Ramey
Amiel, Zev and Moam Ramey-Winikur
Ilene and David Winikur

 

Thanks

 

Sara Archambault
Ambassador Maen Areikat
Kenneth Aron
Amjad Atallah
Barbara Attie
Ann and Lawrence Auerweck
Brian Studniberg and Ellie Avishai
Ami Ayalon
Irl Barg
Mr and Mrs. Adam Bayroff
Leonard Beerman
Alisa Ben-Ami
David Bergman
Susan Bernstein
Nancy Bernstein
Kai Bird
Tamar Avishai and Evan Blanch
Deborah Blank
Kenneth Bob
Lynn Bowers
Ethan Bronner
Alexander Brown
Steve and Evelyn Buff
Susan Cantor
James Carroll
Eric Carlsen
Nathan Cheifetz and Sharna Cohen
Robert Chow
Patricia Cochran
Rennie and Cy Cohen
Pauline Cohen
Margie Coles
Noah Cowan
Bestor Cram
Joshua Das
Natalie Zemon Davis
Alvaro De Soto
Jeffrey M. DeBlasio
Geraldine Kim Demitrio
Joseph Douillette
Daniele Thomas Easton
Rabbi Amy Eilberg
Daniel and Marina Eisenbud
Evelyn Eskin
Salam Fayyad
Michael Felsen
Tyson Ferris
Patricia Fischer
Robin and Eric Flamm
Pat Flores
Deborah Fogel
Jim and Debbie Elliott Frieden
Matt Gann
Amy Geller
Larry Gellman
Shaggy and Sara Georgi
Anne and Nick Germanacos
Tim and Jan Gillespie
Mitchell Silver and Ora Gladstone
Margery Goldman
Jerry Goldstone
Richard M. Goldwasser
Janet Goldwater
Howard Green
Mike and Jacquie Green
Andrea Grenadier
Georg Grosse-Hohl
Anne Hagele
Ivan Handler
Deborah Harris
Emily Hauser
Robin Hessman
Carrie Sheinberg and Paul Hochman
Tamar Ishaky
Yael Jacobson-Zieff
Artemis Joukowsky III
Deborah Katz
David Kaufman
Judy Kaye
Talya Ezrahi and Lewie Kerr
Jacques Kornberg
Charles Kremer
Steven Krubiner
Gil Kulick
Lyda Kuth
Dakota Lacroix
Miriam Langsam
Bruce Lawrence
Carl Lee
Jody Lee
Jared and Tess Leeds
Rachel A. Lerner
Paul Silin Levenson
Roy Levit
Judy Lighter
Pearl Lighter
Dianne Lior
Anna Litten
Consuelo Lopez-Morillas
Christopher Lydon
Stephen Maing
Akiva and Raisie Markus
Adam Mazer
Fran McElroy
Jeannine McLaughlin
Anne McLaughlin
Jerry Meland
Caroline Meline
Jed Meltzer
Arielle Cheifetz and Brad Meredith
John R. Miles
Ilana and Jack Miller
Shlomo Molla
Joseph Montville
James Morgan
Seth Morrison
Barbara Nordstrom-Loeb
Liz Norton
Carolyn Toll Oppenheim
Glenn Patron
Emily Jansen Payne
Mariam Leitman and Craig Perkins
Clifford Pollan
Daniel Poremba
Patrick A. Price
Shaun and Ali
Jo Radner
Shaloub Razak
Mary Janet Robus
David Rogers
Larry Rosenberg
Jessica Kuh and Jeffrey Rosenblum
Jessica Rosenblum
Daniel Rosove
Claire Rosser
Abraham Rotstein
Linda Schleifer
Shelly Schreter
Allen Segal
Elliott and Ellie Seif
Stephen Seplow
Carolyn Seplow
Nachman Shai
Carrie Shapiro
Margaret Shapiro
Noam Shelef
Andy and Sandy Siggner
Cyprienne Simchowitz
Jan Soifer
Sue Swartz and Bruce Solomon
Marvin Sparrow
J Street Staff
Aaron Steinberg
Stephen Stern
Beth, Sue and Steve Sternheimer
Nan and Bill Stone
Ada Strausberg
Andrew Szende
William Taylor
Karen and Bill Thompson
David Richard Thompson
Melissa Thompson
Ronald Tiersky
Sarah Turbow
Cynthia and Art Turner
Avrom Udovitch
Elizabeth Vernon
Janet Walkow
Fred Walton
Tamar Weber
Eli Weber
Judith Wechsler
Lenny Rotman and Debbie Weiner
Morton Weinfeld
Patricia Weiss
James S. Wells
Dylan J. Williams
Jonathan Winikur
Geoffrey H. Winikur
Terry and Carol Winograd
Arthur Winter
Patricia Wise
Edward Witten
Robert Paul Wolff
Claire Wright
Shelly Yanoff
Frank Yashar
Mitchell Young
Mark and Margie Zivin

 

Distributed by
Sideways Film

Archival Footage Appears Courtesy of
AP Archive
Jerusalem Post TV
The National Archives
National Public Radio
Streamline Films, Inc.
United States Holocaust Memorial MUSEUM
WBUR Radio Boston
The White house

 

© 2014 Ben Avishai and Ken Winikur