“Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Creation of a Cinematic Capital” is an exhibition that opened last Sunday at the Academy Museum of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles.
The exhibition seeks to review the legacy of Jewish pioneers of the 20th century film industry, such as the Warner brothers, Adolph Zukor and Louis B. Mayer.
Two years ago, controversy had been generated with the opening of the museum since there was no mention of the Jewish beginnings of the industry. With this new opening, Jacqueline Stewart, the museum's director and president, said that community feedback helped modify the museum's content and decide to make this exhibition permanent.
Stewart said he felt they could “present this exhibit now in a better way than it would have been if we had tried to tell the story when we first opened.”
The exhibition is divided into three main sections: “Los Angeles: From Cinematic Frontier to City of Industry, 1902-1929,” “Origins of the Studio” and “From Shtetl to the Studio: The Jewish History of Hollywood.”
Dara Jaffe, the exhibition's curator, said that "the same type of anti-Semitic rhetoric that was directed at these original Jewish founders of Hollywood continues to be directed at Jews in Hollywood today," adding that the "exhibition is a very educational platform." important to dispel these harmful stereotypes.”