Jack Abramoff was born on February 28, 1959 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, into a Jewish family. His parents were Jane (nee Divac) and Franklin Abramoff, who was president of the Franchises unit of Diners Club credit card company. Abramoff's family moved to Beverly Hills, California, when he was ten (in 1968). After seeing the film version of Fiddler on the Roof at age twelve, Abramoff decided to practice Orthodox Judaism.
Work in film production, and South Africa connections
Abramoff spent 10 years in Hollywood. He developed (wrote the story) and produced, with his brother Robert, the 1989 film Red Scorpion. The film ultimately cost $16 million (from an $8 million initial budget) and starred Dolph Lundgren playing the Spetsnaz-like Soviet commando Nikolai, sent by the USSR to assassinate an African revolutionary in a country similar to Angola. Nikolai sees the evil of the Soviets and changes sides, becoming a freedom fighter for the African side. Abramoff also executive-produced its 1994 sequel Red Scorpion 2.  The South African government financed the film via the International Freedom Foundation, a front-group chaired by Abramoff, as part of its efforts to undermine international sympathy for the African National Congress. The filming location was in South-West Africa (now Namibia).  On April 27, 1998, Abramoff wrote a letter to the editor of The Seattle Times rebutting an article critical of him and his alleged role as effectively a Public Relations puppet of the then-apartheid South African military. Abramoff rebutted:  The IFF was a conservative group which I headed. It was vigorously anti-Communist, but it was also actively anti-apartheid. In 1987, it was one of the first conservative groups to call for the release of Nelson Mandela, a position for which it was roundly criticized by other conservatives at the time. While I headed the IFF, we accepted funding only from private individuals and corporations and would have absolutely rejected any offer of South African military funding, or any other kind of funding from any government - good or evil.  During this period in South Africa, Abramoff first met South African-born rabbi David Lapin, who would become his religious advisor. He also met Lapin's brother and fellow rabbi Daniel Lapin, who allegedly introduced Abramoff to Congressman Tom DeLay (R-TX) at a Washington, DC dinner shortly after the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994. Lapin later claimed that he did not recall making that introduction.

Q: What did Abramoff do in film?
A: He developed (wrote the story) and produced, with his brother Robert, the 1989 film Red Scorpion.

Q: Can you tell me anything else about his film production?
A: The South African government financed the film via the International Freedom Foundation,

Q: Why did the South African government get involved?
A: part of its efforts to undermine international sympathy for the African National Congress.
Who was the film Red Scorpion received?
unknown
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