Abbey Jack Neidik

Abbey Jack Neidik (born 1947) is a Canadian film director, producer, writer and cinematographer.

Early life

Abbey Jack Neidik was born in 1947 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, son of Sarah (Rishikof) and Ben Neidik. He attended Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) in Montreal.

Career

In 1980, Neidik co-produced and directed Dark Lullabies^[1] about the effects of the Holocaust on the next generations of Jews and Germans. Dark Lullabies was the inaugural film at the Stratford Festival Forum, screened at the Berlin Arsenal 70th anniversary of The Holocaust, the Inconvenient Films: International Human Rights Festival.

Neidik next directed Between The Solitudes/Entre Solitudes, about the Anglo community in Quebec., followed by The Love Prophet and the Children of God,^{[citation needed]} a look at a controversial religious cult. A Song for Tibet about Tibetans in exile; The Cola Conquest,^[2]^[3] produced by Neidik, is a three-part series about Coca-Cola as a metaphor for American influence worldwide. Neidik co-produced and directed The Journey Home: A Romanian Adoption, a film about Romanian orphans a decade after the fall of Ceausescu. He co-produced and co-directed She Got Game,^[4]^[5] a behind-the-scenes look at women’s tennis; Vendetta Song, which examines the tradition of honour killings in rural Kurdish tribes in Turkey; co-produced and directed Unbreakable Minds,^[6]^{[citation needed]} which aims to de-stigmatize mental illness; co-produced and co-directed Inside the Great Magazines,^[7]^[8] a three-part series about the inner workings of the magazine industry; and co-produced and directed Canadaville, USA,^[9]^[10] about billionaire Frank Stronach's social experiment in rural Louisiana.

In 2013, Neidik co-produced and directed Beyond Earth: the Beginning of NewSpace; Shekinah: the Intimate Lives of Hasidic Women;^[11] in 2015 Big Wind, about the effects of industrial wind turbines; and, in 2018, the sequel Shekinah Rising.^{[citation needed]}

Most recently, Neidik co-directed, wrote and produced First to Stand: The Cases and Causes of Irwin Cotler,^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15] a documentary about former Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Canada and international human rights lawyer, Irwin Cotler and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. The film premiered on Human Rights Day, December 10, 2022 at the Cinéma du Musée in Montreal, Quebec. The film was screened for the U.S. Congress on the occasion of Cotler receiving the Lantos Human Rights Award.^[16]

Books

Neidik was co-editor in the publication of The Aftermath: A Survivor's Odyssey Through War-Torn Europe. ^[17]

Awards


Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref
1976	Canadian Film Awards, Etrog	Best Sound Editing	Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry	Won
1977	Academy Awards	Best Documentary Nomination		Won
1985	International Film Festival of Mannheim	Most Socially-Politically Engaging Film	Dark Lullabies	Won
		Ecumenical Jury Award		Won
		Education Jury		Second
		Audience Award		Won
1986	Torino International Festival of Young Cinema	Prize of the City of Torino - Best Feature Film		Nominated
	World Television Festival, Tokyo	Most Memorable Film		Won
	American Film Festival	Red Ribbon		Won
1989	National Film Board of Canada	A Salute to the Documentary - Prix du Public		Won
1991	Genie Awards	Best Sound Editing	Falling Over Backwards	Nominated
1992	Genie Awards	Best Short Documentary	A Song for Tibet	Won	^[18]
	American Film Festival	Blue Ribbon		Won
	Hawaii Film Festival	Best Documentary of the Year		Won
	Yorkton Film Festival	Best Documentary of the Year		Won
1993	Les Prix Gémeaux	Best Documentary	Entre Solitudes / Between Solitudes	Nominated
1993	Les Prix Gémeaux	Best Editing	Entre Solitudes / Between Solitudes	Nominated
1998	Chicago international Television Competition	Silver Hugo - Best Series	The Cola Conquest	Won
1998	Encounter Internacionais de Cinema Documentale, Vila Franca de Xira
1999	Gemini Awards	Best Documentary Series		Nominated
	Gemini Awards	Best Writing in a Documentary or Series		Won
	Hot Docs	Best Documentary Series - Independent		Won
	National Education Media Network	Gold Apple		Won

The Love Prophet and the Children of God (1998)
Chicago International Television Competition, Gold Plaque - Best Biography of the Year (1998)
Yorktown Short Film and Video Festival - Golden Sheaf Award (1999)
Hot Docs - Best Biography Nominee (1999)
She Got Game (2003)
Temecula Valley International Film and Music Festival, California - Best Documentary (2003)
Columbus International Film and Video Festival - Chris Statuette (2003)
Sports Movies & TV Milano International FICTS Fest, - Guirlande d'Honneur (2003) participation
Aurora Awards - Gold Awards (2004)
Vendetta Song (2005)
Hot Docs CIDA Prize - Best Canadian Documentary on International Developmen (2005)
Hot Docs - Top Ten Audience Favourites (2005)
Calgary International Film Festival- Best Canadian Documentary (2005)
Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québécois, Quebec Film Critics Association - Best Medium Length Documentary (2005)
Vendetta Song - Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québécois – Choix du public (2005)
Female Eye Film Festival - Best Documentary (2005)
International Women’s Film Festival, Torina - Third prize (2006)
Columbus International Film and Video Festival – Humanities – Bronze Plaque (2006)
Unbreakable Minds (2005)
Willpower Board of Directors Grateful Appreciation Award (2005)
Canadaville, USA (2008)
Chicago International Film Festival - Merit Prize for Social Political Documentary (2008)
Shekinah: The Intimate Life of Hasidic Women (2013)
Crown Heights Film Festival – Best Documentary (2013)
Beyond Earth: the Beginning of NewSpace (2013)
Hollywood Independent Documentary Awards - Award Winner (2017)
Beyond Earth Film Festival - Jury’s Special Mention. (2019)
First to Stand: The Cases and Causes of Irwin Cotler (2022)
Mannheim Arts and Film Festival – Honorable Mention (2022)
Gold Star Movie Awards – Best Feature Length Documentary (2023)
Festival de Television de Monte-Carlo Golden Nymph Awards - Official Selection (2023)
Goldstar Movie Awards – Official Recognition (2023)
Indie Vegas Film Festival - Honorable Mention ( 2024)

References

^ Cohen, Mike. "Canadian documentary about the Holocaust experiences a renaissance" (PDF). The Jewish Tribune.
^ Brownstein, Bill (August 29, 1998). "Couple turns lens on pop culture" (PDF). Montreal Gazette.
^ Zerbisias, Antonia (September 7, 1998). "The Real Thing". The Toronto Star.
^ Tebbut, Tim (2003). "Documentary shows life behind the game" (PDF). The Globe and Mail.
^ Wertheim, Jon (April 28, 2003). "Hewitt's lawsuit has little merit" (PDF). si.com.
^ Pearson, Jesse, ed. (2003). "The Mental Illness Issue" (PDF). Vice. Vol. 12, no. 2.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ Cauchon, Paul (March 10, 2007). "Les grands magazines ont-ils encore un avenir?" (PDF). Le Devoir.
^ Hays, Matthew (April 28, 2003). "Noise Makers-Documentary Filmmaker Abbey Neidik Peers Inside the Great Magazine" (PDF). Montreal Mirror.
^ Wyatt, Nelson (November 1, 2007). "The town Frank Stronach built". Toronto Star.
^ Brownstein, Bill (November 1, 2007). "Uplifting idea didn't yield a Utopia"". Montreal Gazette.
^ Ghert-Zand, Renee (October 29, 2013). "New documentary opens a hermetically closed world". Time of Israel.
^ Wheeler, Brad (February 5, 2023). "With their new film about Irwin Cotler, married Montreal filmmakers make a stand for human rights". The Globe and Mail.
^ Brownstein, Bill (December 9, 2022). "Irwin Cotler's many fights for human rights detailed in documentary". Montreal Gazette.
^ Alioff, Maurie (February 7, 2023). "First to Stand: Irwin Cotler's Fight for Human Rights" (PDF). Nothernstars.
^ Cashman, Greer Fay. "Grapevine. A matter of timing." Jerusalem Post. February 22, 2023.
^ "Documentary Film Featuring Canadian Human Rights Lawyer Irwin Cotler Premiers In DC, As Cotler Receives Prestigious Human Rights Award". Lantos Foundation. October 26, 2023.
^ "The Aftermath: A Survivor's Odyssey Through War-Torn Europe".
^ Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7737-3238-1.

External links

www.dliproductions.ca

[1] Cohen, Mike. "Canadian documentary about the Holocaust experiences a renaissance" (PDF). The Jewish Tribune.

[2] Brownstein, Bill (August 29, 1998). "Couple turns lens on pop culture" (PDF). Montreal Gazette.

[3] Zerbisias, Antonia (September 7, 1998). "The Real Thing". The Toronto Star.

[4] Tebbut, Tim (2003). "Documentary shows life behind the game" (PDF). The Globe and Mail.

[5] Wertheim, Jon (April 28, 2003). "Hewitt's lawsuit has little merit" (PDF). si.com.

[6] Pearson, Jesse, ed. (2003). "The Mental Illness Issue" (PDF). Vice. Vol. 12, no. 2.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[7] Cauchon, Paul (March 10, 2007). "Les grands magazines ont-ils encore un avenir?" (PDF). Le Devoir.

[8] Hays, Matthew (April 28, 2003). "Noise Makers-Documentary Filmmaker Abbey Neidik Peers Inside the Great Magazine" (PDF). Montreal Mirror.

[9] Wyatt, Nelson (November 1, 2007). "The town Frank Stronach built". Toronto Star.

[10] Brownstein, Bill (November 1, 2007). "Uplifting idea didn't yield a Utopia"". Montreal Gazette.

[11] Ghert-Zand, Renee (October 29, 2013). "New documentary opens a hermetically closed world". Time of Israel.

[12] Wheeler, Brad (February 5, 2023). "With their new film about Irwin Cotler, married Montreal filmmakers make a stand for human rights". The Globe and Mail.

[13] Brownstein, Bill (December 9, 2022). "Irwin Cotler's many fights for human rights detailed in documentary". Montreal Gazette.

[14] Alioff, Maurie (February 7, 2023). "First to Stand: Irwin Cotler's Fight for Human Rights" (PDF). Nothernstars.

[15] Cashman, Greer Fay. "Grapevine. A matter of timing." Jerusalem Post. February 22, 2023.

[16] "Documentary Film Featuring Canadian Human Rights Lawyer Irwin Cotler Premiers In DC, As Cotler Receives Prestigious Human Rights Award". Lantos Foundation. October 26, 2023.

[17] "The Aftermath: A Survivor's Odyssey Through War-Torn Europe".

[topalovich-18] Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7737-3238-1.

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