The People's Bubbie Documentary Film

As “The People’s Bubbie,” 92-year-old Shatzi Weisberger became an unexpected symbol of resistance. This outspoken Jewish, lesbian, anti-Zionist, lifelong New Yorker embraced her flaws and faced her fears. With her captivating spirit, she forged powerful bonds with young queer activists from Jewish Voice for Peace NY (JVPNY) to unlock a profound love that transformed her final weeks into an extraordinary journey of joy and loss.

With a handmade sign tied to her walker, Joyce “Shatzi” Weisberger brought the gravitas of her long life to Queer Liberation marches and Black Lives Matter protests across New York City, even as the pandemic brought the nation to a standstill. The spectacle of a 90-year-old white woman holding up an “Abolish the Police” poster was hard for the press to resist.

Though she drew the public eye very late in life, Shatzi had been tirelessly fighting for social justice for decades. Shatzi directed much of her energy towards her 47-year long career as a nurse and numerous activist pursuits. Though she's most well known for her work with Jewish Voice for Peace around anti-Zionism and Palestinian liberation, she also took part in the Civil Rights, anti-nuclear, war tax resistance, HIV/AIDS, and LGBTQIA+ liberation movements.

As with her political work, she accomplished a great deal of personal transformation in her 80s and 90s, defying common assumptions about what it means to grow old, and what’s possible in life’s final years. In her mid 80s she “had the best sex” of her life, and ran death education workshops to encourage herself and others to have a healthy relationship with death and dying.

This film is timely, as the anti-Zionist movement is growing rapidly in counter to the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Israel in Gaza, and elsewhere. There are very few films about the Jewish movement for anti-Zionism or anti-Zionist activists, and potentially no others about queer elders involved in this struggle.

The People’s Bubbie is also timeless, as it embodies universal themes of love, community, death, aging, queerness, and sexuality.

We are asking for your generous support to help us complete the production and editing phases of the film.

Here's a percentage breakdown of how we will spend the funds we raise:

60% - video production + editing labor

20% - color correction + sound mixing

10% - marketing / audience building

5% - equipment, software, cloud storage

3% - GoFundMe platform fee

2% - film festival application fees

= 100% gratitude

The Filmmakers

Fivel Rothberg (he/him) specializes in recording location sound and produces nonfiction films for broadcast and NGOs. He produced two feature-length documentaries, Island Soldier (2017) and Lyd (2023). Lyd, a “sci-fi documentary” by Sarah Ema Friedland and Rami Younis, won the Jury Award for Best Documentary and the inaugural 2023 FIPRESCI award at Amman International Film Festival. It was executive produced by Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame. Fivel became a father at the age of 20, so spent a lot of his time parenting when he wasn’t working or going to college. His child is now 25-years-old, and Fivel sees this time as an opportunity to have more creative freedom. Finally, Fivel has lived in NYC for 17 years, but still says “wooder” like a good Philadelphian.

Julia Sharpe-Levine (she/they) is a Brooklyn based artist, editor, and educator. Prior to 2023, she spent 8 years leading arts and media programming at the African American Policy Forum (AAPF), a nonprofit organization under the leadership of Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw that advocates for an intersectional vision of racial justice. While at AAPF, she also served as Executive Producer and lead editor of the hit podcast Intersectionality Matters, recipient of a 2021-22 Webby Award. Since 2018, she’s taught theater to K-12 students and older adults throughout NY with organizations like New York City Children’s Theatre, Girls Leadership, and DOROT, and has led workshops on matters pertaining to socially engaged art and intersectionality at institutions such as Yale Drama School and Vassar College. She holds a masters degree in Applied Theatre from the CUNY School of Professional Studies and bachelors degrees in Drama and Chinese from Vassar College.

Our connection to this story, along with our access, is direct and intimate. Shatzi was an elder spokesperson for the New York branch of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVPNY), an organization Fivel and Julia are members of. Like Shatzi and JVP, Fivel and Julia live in New York City, identify as queer, and Jewish, and hold similar beliefs from prison abolition to prioritizing love and joy in the struggle for social justice. Before she died, Shatzi enthusiastically consented to being filmed - even at her deathbed.

Additional photos and footage provided by:

Shirin Bargh

Amy Brown

Heather Hogan

Eliza Klein

Carter Oakley

Jake Ratner

Mars Sultar (& the Sultar family)

Aleksei Wagner

Thank you:

JVP NY

BRIC

Death Differently

Shirly Bahar

Morgan Bassichis

David Belmont

Rebecca Carmel

Amy Cunningham

Esther Farmer

Kim Green

Aitan Groener

Sarah Koshar

Cara Levine

Eliza Klein

Rosita Libre de Marulanda

Una Osato

Claire Raizen

Jake Ratner

Theo Rehm

Irit Reinheimer

Jay Saper

Sarah Sills

Destiny Spruill

Elena Stein

Mars Sultar

We are not able to offer any raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe campaign. Please get in touch with us with any questions!