The award will be given to the legendary director, among other things, for "his dedication to the preservation and transfer of the memory of the Holocaust" • He will receive a million dollars, which he will contribute to a philanthropic theme of his choice
Director Steven Spielberg, in 2017
Photography:
AP
Director and film producer Steven Spielberg is the winner of the Genesis Award for 2021, the Genesis Award Foundation announced today (Wednesday).
Spielberg, the ninth winner of the award, will receive a million dollars which he will donate to a philanthropic subject with personal significance that is important to him, as past winners have done.
According to the foundation, the award will be given to Spielberg, one of the most decorated directors-producers in American film history, for being one of the most influential filmmakers in film history, his commitment to social action and philanthropy and his clear stance against anti-Semitism and other forms of free hatred and intolerance.
Spielberg defeated the other six nominees for the final line: singer and actress Barbara Streisand, actor and activist Sasha Baron Cohen, actress Gal Gadot, Time magazine owner Mark Benioff, United States Supreme Court Justice Yelena Kagan and former British writer and chief rabbi. Lord Jonathan Zacks.
"The award fund honors its exceptional dedication to preserving and passing on the memory of the Holocaust to future generations through innovative projects and its extensive public activities to break violent circles of hatred in the world and prevent genocide," the award said to the director.
The Genesis Prize, dubbed by Time magazine as the "Jewish Nobel Prize," is awarded each year to empower people whose activities are extraordinary and whose values they operate, and their achievements, inspire the next generation of the Jewish people.
The winners of the award are awarded each year on the basis of unprecedented professional achievements, their contribution to humanity and their commitment to Jewish values.
For the first time since its inception, the foundation has enabled the general public in Israel and around the world to take part in the process of selecting the winner.
More than 200,000 people from six continents voted for Spielberg and millions more participated in the voting process and the foundation's various activities on social media.
Together with the award committee, which holds the final authority over the identity of the winner of the prestigious award, the fact that Spielberg received the most votes was a decisive factor in the decision.
"The Genesis Prize seeks to celebrate Steven Spielberg's unique talent, his commitment to making the world a better place, and his unprecedented contribution to educating young generations about the horrors of the Holocaust," said co-founder and chairman of the foundation, Stan Polovets. "Spielberg to the distinguished family of Genesis grooms and grooms, which includes great personalities such as Judge Ruth Baider Ginsburg, former Minister and former prisoner of Zion Natan Sharansky and former New York Mayor and businessman Michael Bloomberg."
In addition to the many awards he has won in a cinematic setting, including three Oscars, Spielberg has over the years received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States;
In the Legion of Honor, the most important decoration of the French Republic;
And in the Federal Cross of Honor, the Medal of Honor of the German Federal Republic.
"Spielberg is a Jew with great vision and amazing skills in the ability to tell a story," said Sharansky, who won the award last year.
"He artistically weaves central themes and elements into Judaism within his works: the importance of identity and a sense of belonging, respect and acceptance of the other, preserving humanity within a ruthless world and respecting the moral duty to do the right thing. His talent makes them universal. When told by Spielberg, these stories Come to life in the hearts of people all over the world.
"Congratulations to Steven Spielberg on being chosen as the winner of this important Jewish award," said Yitzhak Herzog, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel and chairman of the selection committee of the Genesis Prize Fund. "He is an example of great Jewish talent, whose exceptional work in cinema and philanthropy "The journey to justice, compassion, humanity and longing to make the world a better place."
Spielberg is considered one of the most successful and respected directors in the history of cinema.
His films have grossed over $ 10 billion worldwide and his imagination has captivated tens of millions of people worldwide in blockbuster and award-winning films, including "Jaws," "ET: A Friend from Another World," "Jurassic Park" and "Indiana Jones." .
Later in his film career, Spielberg researched and touched on other issues related to slavery, women's rights, corruption and war morals, in films such as "Save Private Ryan," "Lincoln," "The Color Crimson," "The Newspaper" and "Spy Bridge."
Many of his films documented some of the most important stories in the history of the Jewish people and the State of Israel - the Holocaust, terrorism and the history of the state.
One of his best-known, if not best-known, films is The Schindler's List, which after its release in 1993 had a profound effect on the collective memory and public consciousness surrounding the Holocaust.
The film managed to create a strong emotional connection among a huge audience around the globe with the terrible consequences of World War II on the Jewish people, and to touch the hearts of the generations born long after the end of the atrocities, in a way that no other medium could.
Spielberg transferred all his proceeds from the success of the "Schindler's List" to fund philanthropic goals - Jewish and non-Jewish.
A year after the film's release, he founded the University of Southern California Holocaust Foundation, which is dedicated to creating audio and video interviews of Holocaust survivors and witnesses, as well as other genocide incidents, as a calling for education and action.
The foundation takes care of the preservation of testimonies and the memory of genocides that took place in the 20th century in Europe, Cambodia, Armenia and Rwanda.
To date, the foundation has collected more than 55,000 testimonies.
Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capasho, founded the Righteous Persons Foundations Foundation, which has donated more than $ 100 million to Jewish organizations over the years.
Through another foundation of the couple, Wunderkinder, they have contributed greatly to the fields of health, art and education.