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The Sacred Society and Other Shorts

(Benny Zelkowicz, 2025) 

Benny Zelkowicz in person

Columbus Premiere

A painted image of two men standing above a dead body that they are preparing for burial.

This mesmerizing animated documentary provides a glimpse into a little-known end-of-life ritual in Jewish culture.

Benny Zelkowicz’s The Sacred Society uses interviews with local members of the Chevra Kadisha (a Jewish burial society) to explore their deep personal and philosophical reasons for engaging in such difficult work. Employing a highly tactile and visually poetic sand animation technique, the film recreates a tahara, the ritual cleansing of a body before burial, while interviews address the universal questions surrounding death.

Zelkowicz is the recipient of a 2024 Ohio Humanities Film Fellows at the Wexner Center grant, and the film was supported by the center’s Film/Video Studio. He has more than 20 years of experience as a character animator for such films and shows as The Lego Movie, The Simpsons, Robot Chicken, and more. Zelkowicz is also a lecturer in Ohio State’s Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design.

Also included in the program are: The Erlking (2002), a sand animation adaptation of the Goethe poem; Made by Molly (2012); and Caroline Leaf’s landmark The Street (1976), a great influence on Zelkowicz.

Zelkowicz joins us for a Q&A following the program. (program approx. 75 mins.)

IMAGE CAPTION
The Sacred Society, courtesy of the artist.

Program lineup

The Street (Caroline Leaf, 1976, 10 mins., DCP)

The Erlking (Benny Zelkowicz, 2002, 6 mins., 16mm) 

Made by Molly (Benny Zelkowicz, 2010, 4 mins., DCP) 

The Sacred Society (Benny Zelkowicz, 2025, 13 mins., DCP)

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Ohio Humanities

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Greater Columbus Arts Council
The Wexner Family
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Mellon Foundation
Every Page Foundation
Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts
CampusParc
Nationwide Foundation
Lois S. and H. Roy Chope Fund of The Columbus Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Axium Packaging

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Ohio History Fund/Ohio History Connection
David Crane and Elizabeth Dang
Louise Lambert Braver
 

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The Sacred Society and Other Shorts