'Blewish' celebrates Black and Jewish intersectionality through children's animation

What happens when you mix Black and Jewish identity with animation artistry and the drive to take intersectional representation up a few notches? You get Ezra Edmond’s debut children’s short film, “Blewish,” which is having its world premiere at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival.

Edmond, who is in his early thirties, is a Los Angeles-born writer, director and producer with a passion for storytelling and insights into complex identities. The dynamics of growing up with an Ashkenazi mother from Los Angeles and a Black father from Alabama fueled his vision for the animated film.

“As a child, I felt like I was the only person who was both Black and Jewish. When I was in Jewish spaces, there never seemed to be Black people around. And when I was in Black spaces, there never seemed to be people who understood about being Jewish,” he said.

“People would often ask me where I was from or what my background was. In Hebrew School, some non-Black Jewish kids wondered what I was doing there,” said Edmond, who said he “grew up conservative” and became a bar mitzvah. “I was trying to figure out myself, where I fit in, feeling comfortable and not highlighting different pieces of my identity.”

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