20 years after bombshell Columbia antisemitism documentary, filmmaker turns lens back on campus

Filmmaker Daniella Kahane, who produced the 2004 documentary 'Columbia Unbecoming' about antisemitism at Columbia University, is making a follow-up film titled 'Inside the Gates' after witnessing campus protests following Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The new film examines foreign funding, university structures, and social trends at Columbia and other elite US universities.

Filmmaker Daniella Kahane, who produced the 2004 documentary 'Columbia Unbecoming' about antisemitism in Columbia University's Middle East studies department, is making a follow-up film titled 'Inside the Gates' after witnessing campus protests following Hamas's October 7, 2023 terror invasion of Israel. Kahane said she was shocked by the 'volume of hatred' she saw at a protest on October 12, 2023. The new film takes a wider view than the 2004 documentary, examining foreign funding from states like Qatar, the university tenure system, and youth trends that Kahane argues encouraged ideological conformity. The film features interviews with Jewish civil rights advocates, scholars, counter-terrorism experts, and media commentators including Bari Weiss and Van Jones. Kahane said the film is 'asking the question, How did we get here?' and is in post-production as she seeks funding to complete editing and secure distribution.