DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) – Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg and Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford have announced they are partnering to expand a multimedia program for Detroit-area students designed to foster tolerance.
Spielberg and Ford made the announcement Thursday following a meeting with students and teachers from Henry Ford Academy in Dearborn, Michigan.
The University of Southern California Shoah Foundation was founded by Spielberg. It uses visual testimonies from survivors to educate people about the Holocaust and other genocides.
Ford says the automaker will sponsor USC Shoah’s IWitness Video Challenge, which invites students to produce a video inspired by the survivors’ testimonies that tells the story of how the students have contributed to making their communities a better place.
Ford Motor’s $180,000 gift also will expand IWitness to more schools in the Detroit area.