Judy left a great legacy of social activism and documentary film-making. She began her film-making career in her 50’s with “Forever Activists: Stories of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade,” which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1991. “A Home on the Range,” a film about the Jewish Petaluma chicken farmers and a favorite at the SF Jewish Film Festival, was one of almost a dozen of her films. “In the Image: Palestinian Women Capture the Occupation” (2014) was her last film when Judy was 83. It was inspired by the work of B’Tselem, the human rights organization in Israel/Palestine, of which her daughter Jessica was the director at the time.
Judy had been assiduous in her participation in Kehilla Synagogue’s Middle East Peace Committee where, even though quite disabled, she managed to get to almost every meeting, contributing her ideas and insight.
She will be sorely missed by many long-time friends, some going back to her days at Syracuse University, others from over 40 years ago in her Shabbat Group, and still others whom she met more recently at Piedmont Gardens. Most of all she will be missed by her daughters Frances and Jessica Montell and their respective husbands Charley Weiland and Avi Ben-Tzur, and her grandchildren Helen and Ezra, Tal, Nadav and Asaf, as well as Judy's step-children Bernarda Septier and her husband Marin, and Craig Montell and his wife Denise, and their children Rachel, Amanda and Brandon.
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About |
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| Name | Judith Montell |
| Date of Birth | December 4th, 1930 |
| Date of Death | May 23rd, 2020 |
| Home Town | New York, NY, US |
| Other City | Oakland, CA, US |
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published a tribute .
Hasta la victoria siempre dear Judy
Thank you very much for your social activism and for continuing the fight against totalitarianism and fascism
No pasaran!
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published a tribute .
I first met Judy in 1976 when Jessie and I were in fourth grade together. I invited the Montell family to come to the shabbat group we had been going to. They were excited and joined. Judy was an intricate part of my experience in elementary school as my own mother was busy with her graduate program and coming out. Judy was at all of our performances for the Gilbert and Sullivan group and with her theater background helped in many ways. She and that experience helped form my love for theater and education. Now, each year I have created and directed my fifth graders in inspired plays about activist themes, such as Shero's and Immigration, climate change etc... Judy also supported my learning of editing as I was the computer/movie teacher at our school for a few years as well. I always knew if I needed anything she would welcome my questions with open arms.
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published a tribute .
Judy and I first met in Spain in 1992 when we each went with the SF Jewish Film Festival to show films. It turned out that we had a lot in common. Judy had made and was in Spain to show Forever Activists and my uncle was a vet in the Lincoln Brigade. In addition we had offices in the Fantasy Building and we were both from the same town in NJ.
At the time I had been interviewing chicken ranchers in Petaluma for a film I wanted to make and asked Judy if she'd be interested in working with me. Many trips to Petaluma and many years later we completed A Home on the Range: The Jewish Chicken Ranchers of Petaluma. During that long process we became friends.
Judy was the consummate party girl. She never met a party she didn't like. Judy also loved the SFJFF. Last year when it was hard for Judy to get to SF my husband Mark Liss and I asked if Judy wanted to go to the festival. Not only did she was to go but she also wanted to attend the late night post screening party! I'm not such a party goer but thought for Judy that we'd go. It wasn't until we ran into Dan Wolfheiler that night at the festival that we found out the party had been the night before. Judy was very disappointed as she hated to miss a good party.
Judy will be greatly missed. For me the film festival will never be the same without her. I cherish the years we spent together working on the Petaluma film. Her memory is a blessing.
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published a tribute .
Thank you for the beautiful memorial service. I loved seeing Judy's face and spirit in her wonderful daughters and grandchildren. She is still with us in so many ways!
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published a tribute .
Judy invited me to be part of her video work in 1979! She wanted to have me into the studio at Laney College where I gave my dance work informed by my work with the Alaskan Eskimo people. As the first non native dancer, I was honored and touched by Judy's enthusiasm and skill. IN addition, we worked on additional footage because my brother's wedding was upcoming and i was giving he and he wife to be a dance--That DANCE was a videotape that JUDY made with me in Berkeley's Walden School where I was a teacher. Remembering Judy's warmth and enthusiasm for community, I send warmest regrets at her passing, along with a celebration for our spirits having been touched. Love to her family and community. My best~ -Patricia Bulitt
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published a tribute .
My condolences to your loss of this wonderful soul. I had the honor of helping Judy when she came back from France quite injured and unable to stay alone all the time. In just a few short visits we started going through her lifetime of documents and records for the plans she had for future movies but even then she admitted they might not get made but couldn't quite let go of it all. It was such a pleasure to spend time with her and help her put her life in order (such as it was).
Many blessings
Marcia Brooks
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published a tribute .
Judy was a true “Forever Activist.” We met through Milt Wolff while she was working on her film about the vets in the late 1980s. We continued working together in the "Associates of VALB" and later ALBA on the annual Lincoln Brigade reunion programs and other vet-related activities. She was one of the leading forces behind the Lincoln Brigade Monument in San Francisco. We also shared times at the Jewish Film Festival Shabat dinners and other events. I had an office next to her at the Saul Zaentz Fantasy Film Center, where her warm heart and generous spirit inspired everyone. I'll always treasure our over 30 years of friendship and camaraderie and will truly miss her. Richard Bermack
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published a tribute .
To Judy's family and wider community, I am so sorry for your loss. I met Judy while working at Grand Lake Gardens. At the time we met, she was moving in and I was the Sales Assistant, and we sat together in the office and talked while she filled out paperwork. Immediately I knew this woman was someone you wanted to pay attention too. I ended up switching jobs and becoming responsible for activities and Judy suggested we have a night dedicated to documentaries several times a month. She had a way of getting things done--she would say, if we serve refreshments, people will come--but not just anything; she had a way of gathering people to witness and discuss meaning. We began with the documentaries she made first, and then expanded to documentaries she had in her personal collection. We continue to find thought-provoking and inspiring documentaries to share as a part of regular movie schedule still to this day at GLG. Her legacy will live on in all of the places she touched. I am grateful to have known her. One more of my favorite memories was when she shared her VHS tape of "Dozens of Cousins," footage she'd gotten of a big family reunion, where her dozens of cousins (that's an understatement) gathered together. She was a special woman, and I will miss her.
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published a tribute .
My condolences to all of Judy's family. I met Judy in the late 80s when I was first starting in documentaries. I worked for her and Connie, in a very small way, on Forever Activists and then again on the Chicken Farmers film. We kept in touch for many years afterwards. Judy was such a sweet and lovely person. We are all lucky to have met her.
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published a tribute .
A fixture in my childhood, the gracious and strong smile, I know her through my child eyes. Mom of Jessie and Francie. I loved her smile, I can hear the tone of her voice. In the Marxist Shabbat group I got to feel the stirring of my Jewish identity, in its most grounded in the real and bending toward justice. Judy was a big part of that. May Francie and Jessie be comforted. And May her memory be a blessing.
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published a comment .
My condolences to all of Judy's family. I met Judy in the late 80s when I was first starting in documentaries. I worked for her and Connie, in a very small way, on Forever Activists and then again on the Chicken Farmers film. We kept in touch for many years afterwards. Judy was such a sweet and lovely person. We are all lucky to have met her.
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published a tribute .
I only knew Judy for the last three years of her life, but she had a powerful impact on me. Her intelligence, strength and integrity just blew me away. I spoke to her on the phone not long before she died, and her courage and optimism were still as strong as ever. I'll never forget this remarkable woman.
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published a tribute .
I don't know if I can be in Berkeley without Judy Montell being there. I can't think of the Jewish film festival without Judy Montell being there. Truthfully I loved Judy Montell. She was the realist person that I knew in Berkeley.
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published a tribute .
I remember one year when Judy went to the Oscars... we scanned the crowds every time they panned, trying to spot her. She is an inspiration!
published a comment .
Judy and I moved in to Piedmont Gardens at the same time 4 years ago. We had dinner together every night until a month ago. Four years is not enough time to hear all about her fabulous life but
I did get a hint of it. She was great company and I miss her every day (at dinner time). She did have a good sense of humor.
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published a tribute .
I knew Judy well as a friend and fine filmmaker while I lived in California until moving to France in 2006. She will always be remembered with great fondness. My condolences to her family, friends, and the many filmmakers who were privileged to work with or simply know her. Dan Bessie
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published a tribute .
I want to share my recollections about Judy and the Jewish Film Festival,
We met Judy as she was in the middle of production for the film FOREVER ACTIVIST. We first heard of the film from Connie Field who she was working with. It was Dan Wohlfeiler who traveled with Judy to Spain as a translator and fixer. It was a highly anticipated film, as many of the Abraham Lincoln were aged, some were sick, others already passed. Franco was long gone (1975) and the songs and stories of the resistance were just waiting to re-emerge.
By 1990 the Jewish Film Festival had established itself as a meeting ground for political dialogue between the Bay Area activists and the progressive wing of the Jewish community. FOREVER ACTIVISTS help secure the audience we were aiming for: social justice warriors. Judy gave us enormous gift, she preserved the stories that revealed the best of ourselves. She was the embodiment of a 20th century Leftie...her life story and the stories she preserved were all about the pursuit of justice and equality. A HOME ON THE RANGE; Jewish Chicken Farmers in Petaluma preserved the optimism of a Jewish socialists farmers hoping to build a utopian world. IN THE IMAGE (2004) gave voice to Palestinian women now empowered with video cameras document their lives under Israeli Occupation. Judy was a friend and a precious member of our film community, may her memory be a blessing! Janis Plotkin
PS the tiny photo of Judy with Israeli filmmaekr Moshe Miszrachi was shot in Madrid in 1992.
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published a tribute .
udy was larger than life, sometimes much larger, but for me, she was always special. Some of my earliest memories are about my father and the Chickering piano he loved playing. The piano belonged to Judy, a gift from her mom, and it tied the first cousins (Bobby and Judy) together. Bobby could really play it, but Judy couldn’t, but she loved it when he did. Those memories remind me of the three cousins, Dede, Bobby and Judy who are all now gone. Judy was the last, and in her way, the most accomplished. After all, she was the only one who was nominated for an Academy Award, and for her first film, to boot.
Judy was a presence in my life from the early 1950’s until last week. When I was 8 or 9, my memory says Judy lived with us and taught at a nursery school in the San Fernando Valley. My younger sister, Terry, would be driven to nursery school every day by Judy who would convert her Mercury station wagon into a school bus by mounting a wooden sign that said “SCHOOL BUS” on the roof. We would then struggle with my little sister to get her in the car and get Judy out of the driveway. Always late, and always fraught.
Judy was always interested in theater, friends with actors, and when I really think about it, was probably the most improbable influence in my life when it came to my career in Hollywood. For those of you who know, I certainly didn’t get it from my parents, grandparents, or aunts and uncles. It could only have been from Judy.
Of course there are many stories about Judy and me. The before Conrad, the during Conrad, and the after Conrad, but always with love. Whether it was an early trip to a small theater in Hollywood, or a family trip to visit Judy and Conrad in Reno, or a celebration whether it was a Bat Mitzvah or graduation or marriage, we were frequent visitors.
I could always trust Judy. Once, when I was in college, I had hitchhiked across the country and found myself in Reno. I arrived at Judy and Conrad’s house unannounced, and was invited to sleep on the couch. I heard all about their lives in Reno, and they asked me about my adventures on the road, as well as my collegiate life, and I don’t think they ever revealed my secret to my parents.
Francie and Jessie remember that I sold Judy her first video camera/camcorder. She always had something to say and Forever Activists was part of that conversation. We were all thrilled when she was nominated for the Academy Award, and we wanted to make that night even more special so we had a cake made in the shape and look of a huge Oscar. When she didn’t receive the real one, at the very least, she had one we could all eat.
Being a documentarian meant always having to beg for money. When making In the Image, she set up a Kickstarter campaign and one of the rewards was a week in a house in the Loire Valley. Maxine and Bobby won the prize but couldn’t use it, so off we went and had a marvelous time.
Later in Judy’s life, I became her financial advisor. She had long ago received stock in a variety of companies like ATT and JP Morgan. The certificates were all over her house, in a variety of places no one knew except Judy. We organized (mostly) everything, got the financial records in order, and allowed her to keep a few shekels in her dotage. I spoke to her a few weeks ago, and she was talking about making another film if she could ever get back her strength and her ability to walk. She’d negotiate every chance she got, and made friends everywhere. Her heart was huge, had space in it for many people, and I am very glad I got to be one of them.
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published a tribute .
I have nothing but fond, lovely memories of sweet and thoughtful Grandma Judy. Visiting her in San Francisco and going to Fairyland is a favorite. So was the time she brought me to see her office. I was so enamored with her job as a documentary filmmaker and loved hearing stories from her career. She was so impressive and accomplished, but also so sweet and caring. I am so grateful I got to have lunch with her last year when I came to SF. She will be sincerely missed. xo
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published a tribute .
Please accept my condolences on behalf of Kehilla's Chesed Committee on the passing of your beloved mother, stepmother, mother-in-law, and grandmother, Judith. She was a valued and loved member of our congregation and will be greatly missed. May her passions and long history of social activism bring you strength and comfort.
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published a tribute .
Judy montells movie made from film taken by Palestinian women was beautiful, poignant, powerful.
It persuaded me to contribute for the last few years to B’Tselem, a subdivision of new Israel Fund. I appreciate her work! Ruth minka
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published a comment .
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