Major documentary film on the genocide in Darfur would not have been possible
without the efforts of the American Jewish Committee (AJC)

Los Angeles - October 8 - American Jewish Committee Los Angeles Board Member Dean Schramm and U.S. Director of Interreligious Affairs Rabbi Gary Greenebaum are credited in the upcoming documentary Darfur Now as Executive Producers for their role in helping make this film a reality.

Click here to see the trailer.

A Warner Independent Pictures and Participant Productions film, Darfur Now premieres on November 2nd and is a story of hope in the midst of one of humanity's darkest hours - a call to action for people everywhere to end the catastrophe unfolding in Darfur, Sudan.

Executive Producer Dean Schramm at the screening of Darfur Now on Oct 15

The story of the making of this film begins with AJC Vice President Dean Schramm, a principal organizer of the AJC co-sponsored Los Angeles Darfur Observance Day on May 20th with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a groundbreaking interfaith community event.

While driving home from an AJC LA Darfur Taskforce meeting almost two years ago, Schramm asked himself what he could do in his capacity as a literary agent to end the genocide in Darfur.

"Each member of the AJC LA Darfur Task Force asked themselves "How can I personally make a difference in Darfur?"" says Schramm. "I did what I knew - I approached my friend and client Ted Braun to gauge his interest in making a documentary film about Darfur.  Ted researched the issue extensively, said he wanted to do it and immediately began developing his vision for the film.

Schramm along with the award winning documentary filmmaker Braun and producer and Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker Mark Jonathan Harris and the chair of the AJC Darfur Task Force, Fredrick Levin, approached Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, then Western Regional Director of the AJC, about getting institutional support and funding for the project. Under the auspices of the AJC, Darfur Now secured a grant from Steven Spielberg's Righteous Persons Foundation that enabled the production to begin shooting while full financing and distribution deals were being secured.

Simultaneously, Schramm introduced Braun to Academy Award winning producer Cathy Schulman who brought in Academy Award nominated actor Don Cheadle and they both agreed to assist in the development of the project along with Braun and to produce the film along with Harris and to work toward setting up the project with major studios and financiers.

Along with Braun, Schulman, Cheadle and Harris, Rabbi Greenebaum and Schramm thereafter were involved in pitching the project to Warner Independent Pictures and Participant Productions.

"AJC has worked for over one hundred years to promote human rights and tolerance. This film was a natural extension of this work," says Rabbi Greenebaum, now U.S. Director of Interreligious Affairs. "I just knew that this project had to happen and Dean had the passion and the drive to make it a reality."

Through its national organization, AJC is helping to organize a series of screenings for local, national, and international political, religious and ethnic leaders in Los Angeles, New York, the District of Columbia and other significant venues.

"AJC is making a significant effort to ensure that world leaders, diplomats, American politicians and the public generally understand the dire situation in Darfur in order to motivate them to act today to end the genocide and bring relief and hope to the people of Darfur," says AJC LA Executive Director Seth Brysk.

AJC LA is working with its partners from the Los Angeles Darfur Observance Day to mobilize Angelenos to see the film and act to end the genocide.

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