Give cash for Woody Allen to make his next movie in Israel

The Jewish Journal, noting that Woody Allen has made recent movies in London, Spain, Paris and now Rome because he gets financial help from those places, is organizing a campaign to collect enough money to convince Allen to shoot in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. "Here’s this week’s not-so-crazy idea: Let’s all pitch in, just a few dollars each, and fund Woody Allen’s next movie — in Israel," writes editor Rob Eshman.

Actress Noa Tishby makes the video pitch.

Writes Eshman:

In Spain, an entire tourist track has developed to trail the footsteps of his movie “Vicky Christina Barcelona.” Allen has resurrected Gaudi. “Midnight in Paris” is now the title of an Air France tourist brochure. I mean, this is a man who was able to romanticize New York in the ’70s.

And all it would take to get him to immortalize Israel is a paltry $18 mil.

That’s what an Allen movie costs. A work of art — did I neglect to mention he is the Chaplin of our time, the greatest living filmmaker in the world? — that will enable Israel to enter the world’s imagination in a way a billion dollars of hasbara couldn’t possibly buy.

All Allen asks for is funding, and complete control over his project.

As far as I know, Allen himself has never been to Israel. For a man who has done much to define the image of “Jew” in our time, this needs repair. I can’t imagine what will result when Woody Allen meets Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, but then again — that’s why I want to pay to find out.

There's a web page.