Sephardi Success on Stage, on Screen, and in Stockholm
Dear Friends,
At this summer’s Opening Night of the 27th NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival – Festival Sefarad, the beloved Tunisian-French comedian Michel Boujenah had the audience in stitches. He joked that he always wanted to be Ashkenazi, so that he could win a Nobel Prize. As a Sephardi superstar, he added with pride, he had achieved the next best thing: the ASF’s Pomegranate Award for Lifetime Achievement!
The following day, after our screening of Boujenah’s classic “Three Men and a Cradle” at the Florence Gould Theater, the conversation continued, “If Sephardim were a country,” I suggested, ‘we would have more Nobel Laureates than China.’ Boujenah smiled and shot back, “That’s good, but if Ashkenazim were a country, they’d still have more!”
That good-natured dialogue was timely. The Nobel Committee just named Philippe Aghion one of three recipients of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics (officially: the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel). Philippe, who spoke at the ASF’s 26th New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival, joined us for the screening of “Looking for Chloé,” a documentary about his remarkable mother, Gaby Aghion.
An Egyptian-Sephardic emigrant to France, Gaby revolutionized fashion in the 1950s. As the founder of the French fashion house Chloé, she liberated women from haute couture by introducing prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) fashion, and transformed global style. Her clients included Brigitte Bardot, Jackie Kennedy, and Maria Callas.
Gaby’s story, like Philippe’s achievement, exemplifies how, from philosophy to physics, finance to fashion, and literature to law, Sephardim have shaped modern life in extraordinary ways. Scholars count between twelve and sixteen Sephardi Nobel Laureates, among them Baruj Benacerraf, Elias Canetti, René Cassin, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Serge Haroche, and Rita Levi-Montalcini.
At the ASF, we take special pride in celebrating Sephardi creativity, courage, and contributions to civilization. At the same time, and in keeping with classic Sephardic tradition, we stand unabashedly for Jewish unity and bringing all Jewish together.
Your support sustains this mission through films, festivals, archives, exhibits, publications, as well as our nurturing of the next generation of scholars and students.
Please join us in creating a “great and glorious” future where Jewish life is not defined by antisemitism, but what we do!
Jason Guberman
Executive Director, American Sephardi Federation
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Upcoming Event
Our friends at the Museum of the Bible in partnership with the American Sephardi Federation and the Wonder Project present:
“House of David” Season Two Screening
Join Wonder Project, the ASF, and the Museum for the first two episodes of “House of David” Season Two in the World Stage Theater. Watch the drama unfold as David goes from shepherd to warrior. David rises as the Age of Iron reshapes Israel. With Saul’s reign crumbling, faith and power clash for the nation’s future.
Guests can also see evidence of the real House of David. The Tel Dan Stele, which contains the phrase the “House of David,” is the earliest extrabiblical evidence for David’s rule. Found in excavations in 1993 and ’94, the Tel Dan Stele is on display for a limited time. There will be tours of the exhibit before and after the screenings.
Tuesday, 21 October, at 7:00 PM ET
@Museum of the Bible (World Stage Theater)
400 4th St SW, Washington, DC, 20024
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: Complimentary; RSVP Required
