More than 1,200 figures from the global film and TV industry, including Oscar, BAFTA, Emmy and Palme d’Or winners, have signed a pledge.
They are refusing to work with Israeli film institutions accused of being “complicit in war crimes” against Palestinians.
The statement, published Monday by the group Film Workers for Palestine, declares that participating institutions include film festivals, cinemas, broadcasters, sales agents and production companies that have not endorsed the full internationally recognized rights of the Palestinian people. Examples cited include the Jerusalem Film Festival, Haifa International Film Festival, Docaviv and TLVfest.
High-profile signatories include filmmakers Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Adam McKay, Boots Riley, Emma Seligman, Mike Leigh and Joshua Oppenheimer. Actors Olivia Colman, Ayo Edebiri, Mark Ruffalo, Gael García Bernal, Riz Ahmed, Cynthia Nixon, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Josh O’Connor and Melissa Barrera are also among those who signed.
The pledge states: “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.” It also references the International Court of Justice’s ruling that there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza and describes Israel’s occupation as unlawful.
The organizers say the initiative was inspired by the 1987 Filmmakers United Against Apartheid campaign, launched by Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme and others, which called on Hollywood to boycott South African institutions during apartheid.
Last year, a similar cultural boycott was signed by more than 7,000 authors and publishing professionals, including Sally Rooney and Viet Thanh Nguyen, against Israeli publishing houses deemed complicit in the occupation.
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