Jewish Chicago Magazine
Anna Gelman
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As Creative Producer & Director of Livestream at Mishkan Chicago, “Anna’s work has changed the way we envision worship and learning opportunities for our community,” shared a coworker.
A Mishkan Builder as well, Anna creates exemplary immersive livestream experiences for Shabbat, Purim, and High Holidays, bringing an artist’s eye and a director’s precision to Jewish access.
Anna strives to make those tuning in feel that they are participating in the spiritual experience, rather than simply watching an in-person experience others are having.
Additionally, Anna is a gifted experimental theater and film artist. She is Artistic Associate with The Neo-Futurists, and a freelance theater director and filmmaker. She loves to create Jewish artistic work, and recently directed Concentration, an adaptation of Arne Weingart’s book of poetry about the Holocaust, at the Ruth Page Theater.
Age: 33
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Primary gig: Creative Producer & Director of Livestream at Mishkan Chicago
On the side: Director & Producer of Theater and Film
Is there anything else you’d like the community to know about you? My father immigrated from the Soviet Union in the 1970s, and I was lucky enough to spend time in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and at my family’s dacha in Zelenogorsk as a kid and teenager. I grew up in a house where Russian was the second spoken language, and my Jewish and American identity feels very closely tied to the Soviet Diaspora and Soviet Jewry.
I’m also engaged to my partner Will (who also works at Mishkan)! We’ve been together for 15 years and are getting married in the spring of 2027.
What is your proudest accomplishment? I directed a devised play about Jewish resistance during the Holocaust in 2019, titled I Am Going to Die Alone and I Am Not Afraid. I’m proud of all of the theater & film I’ve directed, but this play holds a special place in my heart, and even prompted an audience member to say it renewed their love for devised and experimental theater, and made them feel more connected to the Jewish community!
Your best piece of advice: We don’t have a lot of time, so we are going to go very slowly.