A memorial video from your loved one's photos

What the motion does, and what it doesn't

Each photo in the body of the film gets a 5-second animation, in a motion you choose. “Breath and a smile,” for example, is a breath, a blink, and a small smile, while the camera barely moves.

Glim doesn't clone voices, put words in anyone's mouth, swap faces, or add people who weren't in the photo.

When the photo has a face, each animation is checked against it: if the face changed, the animation is made again, and if it still doesn't match, it isn't shown.

Every animation reaches you before the film is put together. If one doesn't look right to you, you can make it again or leave it out of the film.

A choice, and not for every family

In Glim, every photo in the body of the film gets gentle motion. Some families find it uncomfortable to see photos of someone who has died in motion, and some communities have their own norms about images. For them, a slideshow of still photos is the better choice, and it's a choice to respect.

There's also a middle way: photos as they are, without animation, in the opening and the ending, and gentle motion only on the photos the family chooses to animate.

If you're unsure, ask the close family first, and your rabbi if you need to. You can also start with one photo, see how it moves, and decide then.

What happens to the photos, and who sees the film

• Your photos are stored securely and privately, and we use them only to make your film. Glim never trains AI on them, never sells them and never publishes them without your consent, and you can delete the photos and films at any time. Your photos are kept securely for as long as the account is open. A deleted project stays 30 days in the trash and is then deleted completely, and you can delete the whole account from the account page or by asking us.
• Before you start, talk with the close family. Before you create anything, Glim asks you to confirm that you may use the photos: for a loved one who has passed away, that means with the close family's consent, and for a child under 18 in the photos, a grandchild for example, with a parent's or guardian's consent.
• Only you decide who sees your film. A film's watch link stays off until you turn it on, and then only people with the link can watch. Watch pages don't appear in search engines, you can turn the link off at any time, and deleting the film disables it. If someone in the close family would rather the film not be shown, turn off the link.
• Glim shows a memorial film only if close family chooses to share it with Glim, and then only on Glim's own site: never on its channels, in ads, or next to a sales offer.
• A memorial film's watch page doesn't invite anyone to make a film or link to Glim's site.

For details, see how Glim uses AI and the privacy policy.

For the shloshim, the unveiling, or the yahrzeit

During shiva, you can ask the family for photos and make the film later, when you feel up to it.

For a gathering at the end of the shloshim, a short film of one to three minutes fits, shown when everyone is together, before or after the speeches.

When the family gathers for the unveiling or the yahrzeit, you can show the same film again or make a new one from photos collected over the year. Some families make one for an evening of remembrance, or to tell the grandchildren who the person in the photos was.

Family who can't be there, in Israel or wherever they live, can watch through the link.

Each animation usually takes 4–5 minutes. Several are made at the same time, not one after another, but a whole film still takes longer than one animation. Putting the film together is quick. There's no need to finish it by the shloshim: some families make it for the first yahrzeit instead.

Jewish mourning customs, and the film

Shiva, the first week of mourning, starts after the burial. Traditionally it lasts seven days, paused for Shabbat; some families keep a shorter shiva, and in the Reform view, which customs to keep and for how long is the mourning family's decision. The shloshim is the 30 days from the burial, when many mourners don't go to celebrations or social events, and a memorial gathering is often held at its end.

For a parent, mourning traditionally lasts twelve months, counted from the day of death. During that year many mourners avoid festive events, especially ones with live music, and many refrain from listening to music at all.

Many families hold the unveiling of the gravestone after the Kaddish period, often close to a year after the death, though it can be sooner; in Israel, the stone is usually set soon after the shloshim. The yahrzeit, the yearly anniversary of the death, traditionally follows the Hebrew date, not the Gregorian one: many families light a candle at sundown on its eve that burns for about 25 hours, and the Mourner's Kaddish is said in synagogue. Jewish days begin at sundown, so for a death after sundown, or close to it, confirm the Hebrew date with your rabbi.

You can make the film with no music at all, and its opening can carry the Hebrew date. Customs differ from one community, and one home, to the next, so if you're unsure, ask your rabbi.

• Source: Everything You Need to Know About the Jewish Custom of Shiva, Reform Judaism. Checked October 27, 2026.
• Source: Sheloshim: The First 30 Days of Mourning, My Jewish Learning. Checked October 27, 2026.
• Source: Bereavement in Judaism, Wikipedia. Checked October 27, 2026.
• Source: The Tombstone, the Unveiling and Visiting the Grave, My Jewish Learning. Checked October 27, 2026.
• Source: Yahrzeit: Remembering on the Anniversary of a Death, My Jewish Learning. Checked October 27, 2026.

Choosing the photos, and what to leave out

• Photos that show them as you remember them: smiling, with the family, at work, or on a trip. Choose from several times in their life, not only the last years.
• Motion works best on photos with clear faces of up to three people. A big group photo can go in the opening or the ending as it is, without animation.
• You can leave out what's hard to see, such as photos from the hospital or the last days, unless the family wants them, and any photo someone in the close family asks you to leave out.
• Each photo can carry a short caption: a year, a place, or something they used to say.
• Family can send photos through one link, from Israel or anywhere else, without signing up. Their photos reach you as suggestions, and nothing goes into the film until you add it.

What you choose in a memorial film

• Music, or none at all. A memorial film can have no music. If you'd like some, Glim's library shows only quiet pieces for a memorial film, and a personal song, written and sung with AI, comes only in quiet styles. You can also upload a song that meant something to them, if you have the right to use it.
• The opening. “Candlelight” was made for remembrance: the photo you choose stands framed beside a single candle in a quiet room, and the camera moves slowly toward it. It's made with AI, with no sound, and Glim adds the title, not the AI: their name and the years, for example, with the Hebrew date, the Gregorian date, or both.
• The pace. With “A calmer pace,” each animation runs about 15% longer and the film moves more slowly, and you can pause on the last frame of any photo.
• The ending: a short video that someone in the family films, with its own sound, or a photo of everyone together.
• A reminder. Enter the date of passing, and Glim works out the yahrzeit by the Hebrew date and, if you like, sends a gentle e-mail a week before it, every year. If the death was after sunset, also tick “The death was after sunset,” and Glim counts from the next Hebrew date.

Showing it, and keeping a copy

• Showing it on a TV or a projector? Choose the landscape shape before you upload photos: once the first animations are made, the film's shape can't change.
• Download it as an MP4 file in Full HD, and test it a few days before on the screen it will play on, with the sound.
• Ask someone who isn't among the closest mourners to press play, so they can simply watch.
• It's worth saying before it plays that the motion was made with AI, so no one is caught off guard.
• If the gathering falls on Shabbat, families who keep Shabbat show it after Shabbat or on another day, or send the link to watch at home.
• The film stays in your account for as long as the account is open. To keep it at home too, download the file and keep your own copy.

Read next

• Privacy policy
• The terms on music and songs
• The facts about Glim