1,200 Hollywood names pledge not to work with Israeli film institutions
Actors including Olivia Colman and Josh O’Connor are among over 1200 Hollywood names who have signed a pledge not to work with film institutions in Israel who are “implicated in genocide” against Palestinians.
The pledge, which was published on September 8th by the organisation Film Workers for Palestine, has now surpassed 1,200 signatories from all corners of the movie landscape, ranging from directors such as Yorgos Lanthimos and Mike Leigh to actors including Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, and Ayo Edibiri.
The statement cites examples of complicity with Israeli filmmaking companies such as “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government committing them”. This includes attendance at the Jerusalem Film Festival, which partners with the Israeli government.
Film Workers for Palestine continued: “Despite operating in Israel’s system of apartheid, and therefore benefiting from it, the vast majority of Israeli film production and distribution companies, sales agents, cinemas and other film institutions have never endorsed the full, internationally-recognised rights of the Palestinian people.”
The organisation added that the idea for the pledge was inspired by a similar campaign carried out in the 1980s called Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, where over 100 filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg, came together to demand that US films were not distributed in the then-apartheid South Africa.
In honouring this, the current pledge said of its goal, “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.”
A further list of names who have committed themselves to the pledge includes the likes of Ava DuVernay, Adam McKay, Boots Riley, Emma Seligman, Joshua Oppenheimer, Hannah Einbinder, Paapa Essiedu, Gael Garcia Bernal, Riz Ahmed, Melissa Barrera, and Javier Bardem.
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