Aviva Kempner

Director, Writer, Producer

Aviva Kempner has a mission in life: Her films investigate non-stereotypical images of Jews in history and celebrate the untold stories of Jewish heroes.  She conceived of and produced Partisans of Vilna, a documentary on Jewish resistance against the Nazis, produced and directed Peabody-winning and Emmy nominated The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, about the Jewish slugger who fought anti-Semitism in the 1930’s and 40’s, and produced and directed Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, a humorous and eye-opening story of television pioneer Gertrude Berg.

Two of her previous films have grossed over a million dollars at the box office. The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg grossed over $1.7 million while Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg grossed over $1.2 million. 

Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg won a CINE Golden Eagle and festival audience awards and Women's Film Critics Circle posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award winner for Gertrude Berg. The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg was awarded Audience Awards at the Hamptons International Film Festival and Washington Jewish Film Festival; Spirit Award for Best Sports Documentary, International Sports Video and Film Awards; top honors from the National Society of Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle and Broadcast Film Critics Association. It also won a CINE Golden Eagle and George Peabody Award.

Partisans of Vilna was the winner of a CINE Golden Eagle and the Anthropos First Prize, and received an American Film Festival honorable mention.

And now from Aviva Kempner comes Rosenwald, a feature-length historical documentary about businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. This historical partnership as well as the modern-day attempts to restore the schools is an inspiring story of philanthropy and local self-determination.

Kempner lives in Washington, DC where she plays a prominent role in the artist and film community. She started the Washington Jewish Film Festival in 1990. She is also an activist for voting rights for the District of Columbia. Kempner is the child of a Holocaust survivor and US army officer and was born in Berlin after WWII.

Her many accomplishments include: recipient of the 1996 Guggenheim Fellowship and the 2000 DC Mayor’s Art Award: 2001 Women of Vision award from D.C.’s Women in Film and Video chapter, the 2001 Media Arts award from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and the 2009 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival's Freedom of Expression Awardee. 

She writes film criticism and feature articles for numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Crystal City Magazine, The Forward, Baltimore Jewish Times, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Legal Times, The Wrap, Washington Jewish Week and The Washington Post.

She has written chapters in these various books:  God, Faith and Identity in the Ashes: Perspectives of Children and Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors,Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg: Call Him the Hero of Heroes, When You Need A Little Lift: But Don’t Want To Eat Chocolate, Pay a Shrink, of Drink a Bottle of Gin, Jews and American Popular Culture, What Israel Means to Me, Daughters of Absence, and many more.