More than 1,300 Hollywood filmmakers, actors, and industry professionals signed a pledge that they will not work with certain Israeli film companies that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”
Notable industry professionals who’ve won Oscars, British Academy Film Awards, Emmys, and Palme d’Ors signed onto the pledge published in an open letter Monday by Film Workers for Palestine.
“In this urgent moment of crisis, where many of our governments are enabling the carnage in Gaza, we must do everything we can to address complicity in that unrelenting horror,” the letter said.
The group said it was inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, another movement founded by Jonathan Demme, Martin Scorsese, and 100 other filmmakers in 1987 that demanded the U.S. film industry refuse to distribute its films in apartheid South Africa.
Actors Olivia Colman, Ayo Edebiri, and Mark Ruffalo are among the industry professionals who signed the pledge.
By signing on, they are pledging not to screen films or appear at or work with Israeli film institutions, including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters, and production companies that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel.
“As filmmakers, actors, film industry workers, and institutions, we recognize the power of cinema to shape perceptions. In this urgent moment of crisis, where many of our governments are enabling the carnage in Gaza, we must do everything we can to address complicity in that unrelenting horror,” the website says.
This petition argues that institutions such as the Jerusalem Film Festival, Haifa International Film Festival, Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival, and Tel Aviv LGBTQ+ Film Festival continue to partner with the Israeli government and calls for signees to boycott these events.
ISRAEL TARGETS HAMAS LEADERSHIP IN ‘PRECISE’ QATAR STRIKE
Film Workers for Palestine said that while a few Israeli film institutions “are not complicit,” a majority of the country’s “film production and distribution companies, sales agents, cinemas and other film institutions have never endorsed the full, internationally recognized rights of the Palestinian people.”
The organization does not prohibit those who sign the pledge from working with Israeli individuals, arguing the refusal takes aim at “institutional complicity, not identity.”
“The call is for film workers to refuse to work with Israeli institutions that are complicit in Israel’s human rights abuses against the Palestinian people,” it said on its website. “There are also 2 million Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, and Palestinian civil society has developed context-sensitive guidelines for that community.”
In response, the Israeli Film and TV Producers Association said the signatories are “targeting the wrong people” and that the pledge is “profoundly misguided.”
“By targeting us—the creators who give voice to diverse narratives and foster dialogue—these signatories are undermining their own cause and attempting to silence us. This shortsighted act seeks to eliminate precisely the collaborative efforts working toward ending violence and achieving peace,” the statement to the Washington Examiner said.
“We will not allow this and will push back in our efforts to end violence and bring just peace to our region for the benefit of all,” the statement continued.
Israeli Screenwriters’ Guild Chairman Nadav Ben Simon told the Guardian that the boycott is “deeply troubling.”
“Calls to boycott Israeli creators are deeply troubling. They do not advance the cause of peace. Instead, they harm precisely those who are committed to fostering dialogue and building bridges between peoples. Such measures risk silencing the very voices striving tirelessly for reconciliation and understanding,” he wrote in a statement.
The pledge comes after a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival attracted thousands of participants.
ISRAEL THREATENS TO DESTROY GAZA CITY IN ‘MIGHTY HURRICANE’ IF HAMAS DOESN’T SURRENDER
Venice4Palestine, a group of Italian and international film professionals, published an open letter demanding that the festival condemn the actions of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The Washington Examiner contacted Jerusalem Film Festival, Haifa International Film Festival, Docaviv, and TLVfest for comment.