Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Culture

Our big idea for how Steven Spielberg should spend his Genesis Prize money

Steven Spielberg’s Oscars are about to have some company.

On Wednesday the Genesis Prize announced that the director behind such films as “Jaws” and “Schindler’s List” was selected for the “Jewish Nobel,” which comes with a $1 million prize.

For the first time in its history, world Jewry was invited to vote on who would win the prize, awarded annually to “extraordinary individuals for their outstanding professional achievement, contribution to humanity and commitment to Jewish values.” 200,000 people on six continents cast their votes and the director emerged victorious over the likes of Barbra Streisand, Sacha Baron Cohen and the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Given Spielberg’s popular reception at the box office and his continued work for Jewish causes, his selection is not all that surprising.

“The award recognizes Spielberg’s outstanding achievement as one the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema; his social activism and prolific philanthropy; and his principled stance against anti-Semitism and all forms of intolerance,” The Genesis Prize Foundation said in a statement.

In addition to his film work, Spielberg is the founder of the USC Shoah Foundation, which strives to preserve the memory of the Holocaust through filmed testimony, an achievement the GPF also noted.

“Spielberg is a great Jewish visionary and storyteller,” human rights activist Natan Sharansky, who was awarded the Genesis Prize in 2020, said in a statement. “Key Jewish themes are often woven into his narratives: importance of identity and belonging, maintaining humanity in a ruthless world, caring for the other, and honoring the moral obligation to do the right thing. His talent makes them universal: told by Spielberg, these stories come alive in people’s hearts across the globe.”

Of the nominees, Spielberg, whose net worth is estimated at north of $3 billion is — after Salesforce founder Marc Benioff — least in need of the money. But, all previous winners have elected to donate their prize money to charity. Given Spielberg’s history, it’s likely he’ll give his winnings to a worthy cause.

But part of me hopes he just goes nuts and tries to make a real Jurassic Park.

PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.