Film industry professionals pledge to boycott Israeli institutions

Hundreds of actors, directors, and film industry professionals have signed a pledge vowing not to work with Israeli film institutions they believe are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”

This pledge, organized by Film Workers for Palestine, draws inspiration from the cultural boycott that contributed to the end of apartheid in South Africa.

The signatories include renowned film-makers such as Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Asif Kapadia, Boots Riley, and Joshua Oppenheimer, as well as actors like Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, and Ayo Edebiri.

With over 1,200 signers, this movement demonstrates a growing trend in the entertainment industry to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza.

The pledge emphasizes the power of cinema to shape perceptions and urges industry professionals to address complicity in the “unrelenting horror” unfolding in Gaza. “As film-makers, 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 pledge reads.

The pledge provides guidelines for determining which film entities are implicated in Israel’s actions.

According to the FAQ section, Israel’s major film festivals, production companies, and distribution companies are considered complicit due to their partnerships with the Israeli government and failure to endorse Palestinian rights.

However, the pledge notes that there may be “a few Israeli film entities that are not complicit” and advises following guidelines set by Palestinian civil society.

Screenwriter David Farr, one of the signatories, expressed his distress and outrage over Israel’s actions, stating, “as the descendant of Holocaust survivors, I am distressed and enraged by the actions of the Israeli state, which has for decades enforced an apartheid system on the Palestinian people whose land they have taken, and which is now perpetuating genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza.”

This pledge is part of a broader movement in the entertainment industry to protest Israel’s war in Gaza. Earlier this year, hundreds of actors and film-makers signed an open letter condemning the industry’s silence over Israel’s military campaign.

The Norwegian Actors’ Equity Association has also recommended that its members refuse to work with certain Israeli cultural institutions.

The campaign invokes the legacy of Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, an initiative founded in 1987 by prominent film-makers like Jonathan Demme and Martin Scorsese, who refused to screen their films in apartheid-era South Africa.

With this pledge, the film industry is taking a stand against institutional complicity in human rights abuses against Palestinians.