15 Facts About Aviva Kempner

Aviva Kempner was born on December 23,1946 and is a German-born American filmmaker.

Aviva Kempner's documentaries investigate non-stereotypical images of Jews in history and focus on the untold stories of Jewish people.

Aviva Kempner is most well known for The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg.

Aviva Kempner grew up in Detroit and has a brother, Jonathan.

Aviva Kempner lives in Washington, DC and is an activist for voting rights for the District of Columbia.

Aviva Kempner was a member of the Class of 1976 at the progressive Antioch School of Law.

In 1981, Aviva Kempner founded The Ciesla Foundation to produce films that investigate non-stereotypical images of Jews in history and celebrate the untold stories of Jewish heroes.

In 1986, Aviva Kempner conceived and produced Partisans of Vilna, a documentary on Jewish resistance against the Nazis, Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye.

Aviva Kempner co-founded the Washington Jewish Film Festival in 1989 together with Miriam Morsel Nathan, and served as the festival's Founding Director.

Aviva Kempner is the scriptwriter, director and producer of The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, a film about first Jewish baseball star in the Major Leagues.

Aviva Kempner directed, wrote and produced The Spy Behind Home Plate, the first full-length documentary about Moe Berg, a Jewish baseball player, who caught and fielded in the Major Leagues from the 1920s through 1939 during baseball's Golden Age and his activities with the US Office of Strategic Services.

Aviva Kempner 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, New York Times, The Wrap, Washington Jewish Week and The Washington Post.

Aviva Kempner is currently co-producing and co-directing Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting, a full length documentary exploring the history of using Native American images in mascoting and the fight to change the name of current professional sports teams.

Aviva Kempner is producing and directing a short film, Pissed Off, exploring the under-publicized struggles faced by female lawmakers in Congress who advocated for equal access to restroom facilities in their place of work, the United States Capitol, and a full length documentary on Academy Award winning Hollywood screenwriter, Ben Hecht.

Aviva Kempner worked to rescue European Jewry and helped to expose the nature of the Holocaust and the need for a Jewish homeland to the American public.