Yes, for the last time, Jewish pirates were totally a thing.

But, of course, not everyone is on board (get it?) with a chapter of history until there’s a movie version. So the time has come for a film about Jewish pirates!

That film is The Pirate Captain Toledano, currently nearing the end of its fundraising campaign on Jewcer.

The Pirate Captain Toledano is about a Jewish stowaway on a pirate ship fleeing the Inquisition, and the captain who must decide whether or not to accept the refugee into his ranks.

The captain of this ship is Arnon Shorr, an observant Jewish filmmaker who’s been in the industry for years, and is excited that his project (he’s both writer and director) will offer onscreen diversity.

“They’re all Sephardi,” Shorr tells Jewcy about his Jewish pirates. “When was the last time you saw Sephardi Jewish characters in a mainstream Hollywood film? Somehow, according to Hollywood, we’re all Ashkenazi, and we’re either totally secular of Hasidic.

“They aren’t the typical ‘nebbishy victim’ that Hollywood often portrays,” he adds. “Quite the contrary— these were ambitious adventurers who sought opportunity for themselves and for their people.

Plus, most pirate stories are tired these days, he says, and Jews breathe new life into a genre that never seems to explore new themes.

“Jewish pirates are unique in that they have a motivation for piracy that’s far deeper and more complex than a simple thirst for gold or lust for adventure. The’re out for revenge, or a sort of vigilante justice against Spain— which was the maritime superpower of the era!

“And they’re also looking for opportunities in the New World to claim some land and settle their families— a safe haven, out of reach of the Inquisition. When have we ever seen a pirate story where the pirates have such grand and ultimately noble ambitions?”

It certainly is a step apart from the convoluted lore of the Caribbean franchise (no need for supernatural curses to create drama, here).

The short film is currently on track to begin filming in only a few weeks, but you can still help it get to its fundraising goal here.

Image via YouTube

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It’s official: There will be a sequel to The Hebrew Hammer, and it’s going to be called Hammer vs. Hitler. Director Jonathan Kesselman announced they had raised enough money ($50,000) through the crowd-funding platform Jewcer.com to make a comedic sequel to the 2003 Jewish classic. Filming is expected to begin in May 2013, again starring Adam Goldberg as the Orthodox hero who saves Jewry from evil forces.

“It didn’t seem the sort of franchise where you wouldn’t want to see him take on one Jewish holiday after another,” Goldberg said in the press release. “You want to see him go after the big one. Who’s the Jewish Joker? Hitler.”

In Hammer vs Hitler, the audience will find a hipster Hebrew Hammer selling trees as a consultant for the Jewish Justice League. Bored and unhappy at his job, our protagonist ends up taking part in an epic mission to chase and kill Hitler on a journey filled with time travel and Jewish history.

“The ascendency of Mordechai Jefferson Carver, aka the Hebrew Hammer, was never intended to be told in one movie. Not even two. More like eighteen, but two is a good start,” Kesselman said. “Don’t worry, Hitler dies in the movie.”

For now though, the loyalty of his large, cult-like audience will be again tested by the amount of dollars they can donate to his ongoing fundraising campaign. Kesselman estimates that he can make the film for $1.5 million, and is hoping to raise $200,000 and keep it independent. In an equitable trade-off, the movie will “belong to the fans.”

Donors who contribute $1,500 will have the option of being an extra in the film, and a contribution of $5,000 is enough to be lifted bar mitzvah-style on a chair on the dance floor at the movie premiere. Kesselman has also asked fans to suggest who he should cast as Hitler.

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