Nancy Spielberg will present her award-winning film “Above and Beyond” at Congregation Beth El in Voorhees on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.
Nancy Spielberg has ties to South Jersey. She was born in Camden and lived in Haddonfield during the early part of her childhood.
Spielberg grew up surrounded by the film industry, where she worked on her brother Steven’s early films. She will be answering questions following the film.
In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of Jewish American pilots answered a call for help. In secret and at great personal risk, they smuggled planes out of the U.S., trained behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia and flew for Israel in its War of Independence.
As members of Machal — “volunteers from abroad” — this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war; they also embarked on personal journeys of discovery and renewed Jewish pride.
The first major feature-length documentary about the foreign airmen in the ’48 War, “Above and Beyond” brings together new interviews with the pilots, as well as stunning aerial footage, to present a fascinating, little-known tale filled with heart, heroism and high-flying chutzpah.
The film follows the pilots on their circuitous route from the United States — where they met and trained in secret and struggled to stay two steps ahead of the FBI — to Panama, Italy and Czechoslovakia, where they flew versions of the very Nazi planes they had tried to shoot down in World War II.
More than a retelling of the ’48 Arab-Israeli War, “Above and Beyond” examines the motivations of the foreign volunteers — both Jews and non-Jews. It mines the tensions between the Israelis and Machal soldiers.
The film recounts the personal stories of the young pilots, whose experiences in Israel were life altering. And through their stories, “Above and Beyond” reveals how under-equipped and isolated the Israelis were, how desperately they needed planes and pilots and how critical the actions of these young American men were for the country’s survival.
An accomplished businesswoman, fundraiser and philanthropist, Nancy Spielberg has in recent years turned her energy and talents to producing documentary films.
She served as consultant on the Oscar-winning documentary Chernobyl Heart, and is executive producer of Elusive Justice: The Search for Nazi War Criminals, which aired nationally on PBS.
Before creating and producing Above and Beyond, Spielberg produced a project for the Israeli government, Celebrities Salute Israel’s 60th, which was featured in Times Square on the NASDAQ screens for one month.
She attended Arizona State University and UCLA and, after moving to New York, studied film at Sarah Lawrence College and the New School in New York.
She is founder and co-founder of several charities including “A Bid for Charity,” “Children of Chernobyl,” “Project Sunshine” and the U.S. branch of The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.
Congregation Beth El is located at 8000 Main Street in Voorhees. Tickets are $18 and sponsorships are available beginning at $100. Sponsors will have the opportunity to have a private reception with Nancy Spielberg prior to the movie.
To purchase tickets on line: http://bethelsnj.wufoo.com/forms/above-and-beyond or by phone (856) 675–1166.
