Roberta Grossman


Roberta Grossman is an American filmmaker. Her documentaries range from social justice inquiries to historical subjects with a focus on Jewish history.

Early life and education

Grossman was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a major in History and her MA in Producing from the American Film Institute Center for Advanced Film Studies in Los Angeles. She considered obtaining a PhD and embarking on an academic career, but regarded making documentaries as a more effective way to convey history and engage with historical subjects.

Filmmaking career

She released here first film in 1983, a biography of blues singer-songwriter Sippie Wallace called Sippie. The film was co-directed with Michelle Paymar.
In 1995, Grossman produced and co-wrote Jack Leustig’s 500 Nations, an 8-hour CBS mini-series on the history of Native Americans. Executive producers were Jim Wilson and Kevin Costner. In the following years, she created several more historical documentaries for TV, including In the Footsteps of Jesus for The History Channel, The History of Sex and Rock and Roll for VH1, Special Report: Las Vegas for MSNBC, Christianity: The First 1000 Years, Mysteries of the Bible: Judas, Heroines of the Hebrew Bible for A&E and Women on Top for AMC.
In 1999, Grossman founded her production company Katahdin Productions together with Lisa Thomas. Katahdin released its first feature film in 2005, Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action. Music from the movie, "Sacred Ground: A Tribute to Mother Earth" won the 2005 Grammy for Best Native American Album.
In 2008, Katahdin released Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh. The film was produced and directed by Grossman and told the story of Hannah Senesh, a World War II era poet and diarist who parachuted behind enemy lines to rescue her mother and other Hungarian Jews. It won the audience award at 13 Jewish film festivals, was broadcast on PBS, nominated for a Primetime Emmy, and shortlisted for an Academy Award.
Grossman and Sophie Sartain’s Hava Nagila: The Movie was released in 2012. The feature-length documentary traced the journey of the song, Hava Nagila, from the Ukraine to YouTube. Released theatrically and screened at 80 Jewish film festivals, Hava Nagila: The Movie was either opening or closing night at more than half of those festivals.
Director Dyanna Taylor’s film about her grandmother, the photographer Dorothea Lange, Grab a Hunk of Lightning, aired on PBS's "American Masters" in 2014 and was produced by Grossman.
She directed Above and Beyond for producer Nancy Spielberg. The feature-length documentary told the story of Jewish American World War II era pilots who volunteered to fight for Israel in its 1948 War of Independence, also establishing the Israeli Air Force. Interviews with pilots who flew these missions is one of the highlights of the film.
In 2015, Grossman produced a documentary about the secret archives of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. The archive, known as Oyneg Shabbos, was assembled and hidden under the leadership of historian Emanuel Ringelblum. The film, called Who Will Write Our History? is based on the book of the same name by historian Samuel Kassow of Trinity College in Connecticut, and published by Indiana University Press in 2007. Grossman optioned the rights to the book and worked with Executive Producer Nancy Spielberg to raise money for the film. It was released in 2018.

Awards

YearFilmCredited As
1992Live! From Death Row Production Manager
2001From the Waist Down: Men, Women and Music Producer
2005Fortune Files 2: By the Numbers Co-Exec.Producer
2010Native Century Producer
1983Sippie Producer/Director
1995500 Nations Co-Writer/Series Producer
2003In the Footsteps of Jesus / The History ChannelProducer/Writer
2000The History of Sex and Rock and Roll/ VH1 Producer/Writer
2000In Search of History: The Man in the Iron Mask/History Channel Producer/Writer
2000Escape: True Stories of Suspense Producer
2002Special Report Las Vegas/ MSNBC Producer/Writer
2003Women on Top/ AMC Producer
1999Medal of Honor Series Producer
1998The Rise of Christianity: The First 1000 Years/A&E Segment Producer/Writer
1998Mysteries of the Bible: Judas/A&EWriter
1997Heroines of the Hebrew Bible/A&EDirector
2005Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action Producer/Director
2008Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh Producer/Director
2012Hava Nagila: The Movie Producer/Director
2014Grab a Hunk of Lightning: Dorothea LangeProducer
2015Above and BeyondDirector

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