A Kaddish For Bernie Madoff

Directed By Alicia J. Rose

An underground musician becomes obsessed with Bernie Madoff's massive financial fraud and finds herself inside a real-life meta-musical investigation about trust, deception and healing.

  • ABOUT
  • BIO
A KADDISH FOR BERNIE MADOFF is the story of an underground musician who becomes obsessed with Bernie Madoff's massive financial fraud and finds herself inside a real-life meta-musical investigation about trust, deception and healing. A hybrid of musical memoir and narrative fantasy, A KADDISH FOR BERNIE MADOFF tells the story of Madoff and the system that allowed him to function for decades through the eyes of singer-songwriter Alicia Jo Rabins, who – after being given access to an abandoned office on Wall Street for a music studio – watches the financial crash unfold from her 9th floor studio window. Fueled by her growing obsession, real-life interviews transform into music videos, ancient spiritual texts become fevered fantasies of synchronized swimming, and a vivid, vulnerable work of art is born from the unique perspective of an artist watching the global financial collapse up close.

Alicia J. Rose is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer known for her imaginative style and grounded comedic storytelling. She has directed over 30 music videos for artists like First Aid Kit, Cake, and Bob Mould, and helped visually brand bands like The Decemberists. Her acclaimed web series The Benefits of Gusbandry drew praise from The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly. Her award-winning feature debut, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff, is widely available. Rose is currently directing Girls in Trouble: The Series and her sophomore feature "Menopunks". A lifelong musician, she’s also been a college radio DJ, rock show promoter, and indie music distribution leader.