Yorgos Lanthimos, Olivia Colman

Source: 20th Century Fox, Mark Von Holden / A.M.P.A.S.

Yorgos Lanthimos, Olivia Colman

Olivia Colman, Yorgos Lanthimos, Javier Bardem, Aimee Lou Wood, Susan Sarandon, Clio Barnard, Isabel Coixet, Mark Ruffalo, Riz Ahmed, Tilda Swinton, Ken Loach and Ava DuVernay are among the 1,300 signatories who have pledged to refuse to work with Israeli film institutions “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”.

The pledge, organised by the Film Workers For Palestine organisation, listed the Jerusalem, Haifa and Docaviv film festivals, as well as Israeli broadcasters and most Israeli production, distribution and sales companies, as examples of implicated institutions.  

It stated examples of complicity include “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government committing them”.

The pledge elaborated that it was not calling for a boycott of all Israeli individuals: “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. “This refusal takes aim at institutional complicity, not identity.

“There are, however, a few Israeli film entities that are not complicit,” it added. “For best practices, we encourage you to seek guidelines set by Palestinian civil society. We also encourage film workers to ask questions and do their own research about any entity they plan to work with.”

The pledge clarified that it understands for some in the film industry, they are not in a position of power over all contracts involved in a film’s production, but “it is about the contracts that you are being asked to sign and/or that you do have control over, and we fully understand that some filmmakers, actors and other film workers can’t be held responsible for, and don’t always have control over, all of the third party contracts around a project, especially in contexts where film workers are working on projects for major international production companies and streamers.”

It also outlined examples of how wording can be built into contracts that clearly identify the complicity they want to avoid, by retaining or reserving rights for specific distribution territories the individual would like to make decisions about on a case-by-case basis or specifying the individual should be consulted and/or have a right of refusal on certain types of decisions, such as festival invitations, agreements with financial, producing or distribution partners.

Organisers

Film Workers for Palestine is an international coalition of independent filmmakers, producers, critics, and professionals founded in early 2024, that claims to represent over 8,000 industry workers. Further signatories include Amir El Masry, Ambika Mod, Brian Cox, James Wilson, Joe Alwyn, Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Josh O’Connor, Mike Leigh, Paapa Essiedu, Paul Laverty, Rebecca Hall, Rebecca O’Brien, Asif Kapadia, Maxine Peake, Ariane Labed and Joshua Oppenheimer. 

The declaration was inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid which was founded by Jonathan Demme and Martin Scorsese in 1987 and led more than 100 prominent filmmakers in refusing to screen their films in apartheid South Africa.

This latest pledge is one of a series of protests from the film industry showing solidarity with the people of Palestine as the war in Gaza rages on, including an open letter from members of US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA; a motion by Britain’s performing arts and entertainment union, Equity UK, affirming the rights of arts workers to freedom of speech; a motion recently passed by the Norwegian Actors Equity Association recommending its members reject work with Israeli arts and cultural institutions as long as the occupation and apartheid policies are in place; and an open letter from film industry professionals calling on Mubi to severe its ties with Sequoia Capital, an investment firm with ties to the Israeli military.

Over 60,000 civilians have now been killed in Gaza according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Israel’s latest attacks on Gaza began in response to the murder of an estimated 1,139 Israelis in southern Israel on October 7, 2023 by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, and the capture of a further 251 hostages. 

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