SDJW Staff Report
SAN DIEGO — “Who Are the Marcuses?” — a documentary that reveals the mystery behind a couple who made the largest-ever charitable donation to an institution based in Israel — was recently named the audience award winner for Best Feature at San Diego’s annual Blue Water Film Festival.
Held in June to coincide with World Oceans Day, the festival promotes San Diego “as a hub for marine science, naval exploration, and an epicenter for environmental storytelling” and cultivates “a burgeoning family-based, environmental, and military community in San Diego and around the world,” according to its website.
The award-winning documentary reconstructs the lives of Holocaust survivors Lottie and Howard Marcus, an unassuming couple from Great Neck, N.Y., with a passion for Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), the southern academic Israeli institution whose innovation inspires peace and climate action through water technology. The Marcuses retired to a modest two-bedroom apartment in San Diego. Former dentist Howard passed away in 2014 at age 104, and Lottie died less than two years later. The film simultaneously traces the development of Israel’s vital water technology from pre-state to the present; how the Marcuses’ $500 million gift in 2016 has ensured continued leading-edge development in water science for not only the Israeli people, but the world as a whole; sets the family’s gift in geopolitical context; and explores both its impact and implications for regional peace through technology exchange.
“Who Are the Marcuses?” explores a number of foundational questions surrounding the historic donation, including: Who were these virtually unknown philanthropists who had never publicly revealed their wealth or intentions? How did they accumulate millions by getting in on the early days of the greatest financial services empire ever built? What compelled them and their daughter Ellen Marcus to give it all away? And why were the Marcuses so captivated by the issue of water scarcity and BGU?
“The Marcuses were humble visionaries who saw the importance of water research not only as vital to Israel’s self-sufficiency but as a strategy to achieve peace through shared natural resources. Their transformative generosity will be felt for generations to come,” said Doug Seserman, Chief Executive Officer of Americans for Ben-Gurion University (A4BGU), which raises awareness for BGU across the U.S. by spotlighting the institution’s research through educational programs and events as well as other initiatives.
Historic Gift Comes Full Circle
Earlier this year, the story behind the documentary came full circle with the film’s screening at the synagogue formerly attended by Lottie and Howard Marcus, Temple Adat Shalom in Poway. On March 25, approximately 125 people gathered at Adat Shalom to view the film, followed by a question-and-answer session with the synagogue’s Rabbi David Castiglione and Ellen Marcus.
“I was very moved to be part of the screening at my parents’ synagogue. It’s my ‘second synagogue,’ so it was wonderful to spend the evening with Rabbi Castiglione and several congregants whom I’ve known for many years,” Ellen Marcus said.
She added, “Temple Adat Shalom was my parents’ second home, having become members early in the life of the synagogue. They participated actively in synagogue events. They were major donors to the synagogue, having donated the funds to purchase a Torah scroll from the Holocaust era and the original Temple logo. They gave the lead gift to renovate the sanctuary in 2000 and they left a bequest to create and maintain a Holocaust Memorial Garden behind the synagogue, which is available for the entire San Diego community to visit and learn from.”
“Who Are the Marcuses?” made its sold-out world premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival in October 2022 and went on to screen at the United Nations climate change conference COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Its film festival journey around the country is ongoing.
“This film is the blueprint for existing and future technological solutions to climate crises that set the stage for lasting peace in the Middle East and beyond,” said one of the film’s producers, Bradford Schlei.
Read more about the story behind the Marcuses’ historic donation in San Diego Jewish World’s review of the film here.
Thanks for promoting this film about my parents and their bequest! Surely, their gift will help solve real-world issues of climate change and water scarcity.
We all hope so. This extreme world-wide weather should be a wake up call and your parents gift will certainly help fund even more research for solutions.