Rachel Bloom to Receive Freedom of Expression Award at
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- Rachel Bloom will receive the Freedom of Expression Award at SFJFF46 during the July 18 west coast premiere of Hollywood Does Abortion, which she executive produced, the Jewish Film Institute announced.
- Hollywood Does Abortion, directed by Janet Goldwater, Barbara Attie, and Mike Attie, explores how flawed depictions of abortion in film and television have shaped societal misperceptions, drawing on archival footage from the 1970s to the present, including scenes from Maude, Dirty Dancing, Jane the Virgin, and Juno.
- Bloom said in a statement that 'protecting the freedom to speak truth to power through art and cinema is more critical than ever' and thanked JFI for celebrating 'the full, diverse spectrum of Jewish creativity.'
- Lexi Leban, Executive Director of the Jewish Film Institute, praised Bloom for pushing the boundaries of comedy on subjects 'often left unspoken,' calling the documentary 'bold, boundary-pushing storytelling.'
- SFJFF46 runs from July 16 to August 2 in San Francisco and the East Bay, presenting 65 films from 16 countries, including 8 World Premieres, 5 U.S. Premieres, and numerous West Coast and Bay Area debuts.
- The Freedom of Expression Award, conceived in 2005, has previously been given to Daveed Diggs, Kirk Douglas, Norman Lear, Sergei Loznitsa, Theodore Bikel, Jay Rosenblatt, Lee Grant, Julie Cohen, and Joe Berlinger.
Why it matters: The award places Bloom, a writer-performer-producer known for boundary-pushing comedy, in the company of past recipients like Norman Lear and Kirk Douglas, while amplifying a documentary that uses four decades of Hollywood clips to argue that on-screen portrayals of abortion have shaped public misperceptions — a subject the festival's director explicitly framed as too often left unspoken.
