More than 4,000 film workers have signed onto a pledge this week vowing not to work with Israeli film organizations that they believe are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”
“We answer the call of Palestinian film-makers, who have urged the international film industry to refuse silence, racism, and dehumanization, as well as to ‘do everything humanly possible’ to end complicity in their oppression,” reads the pledge, which was organized by the advocacy group Film Workers for Palestine.
The pledge calls on signatories “not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions — including [film] festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies — that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”
The pledge went live on Monday morning with 1,200 signatories, including actors Ayo Edebiri, Olivia Colman and Josh O’Connor. Directors Ava DuVernay, Boots Riley, Terence Nance and Yorgos Lanthimos were also among the first to sign the pledge.
“The cultural institutions of the state of Israel cannot be our partners during this campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing,” said “Gilded Age” actor Morgan Spector, one of the initial signees. “In the absence of decisive action by elected leaders, artists have a responsibility to use what tools we have to demand not just an end to the slaughter, but justice and freedom for Palestinians.”
The Israel-Gaza conflict has roiled Hollywood since it began nearly two years ago. Prominent actors and directors have spoken out about the war in awards show speeches, social media posts and various open letters. Some, such as Susan Sarandon and “Scream” actress Melissa Barrera have faced professional consequences for their statements.
The Film Workers for Palestine pledge, however, stands out in its specific call to action: asking artists in the industry to evaluate their “complicity” in the war by considering how their projects are distributed and funded.
Here’s what that means.
Typically, an independent director may not have a say or be notified about where their films are shown, particularly on the festival circuit. Booking these events may fall to a sales agent or the project’s producers. And when it comes to financing and distributing a film, there are many more hands in the pot than there were under the old studio system.
Film festivals, in particular, have taken on greater importance as they have become the major vehicle for distributing a film, said Kenneth Dancyger, professor emeritus at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. This has also made festivals a prime avenue for advocates to apply public and internal pressure about which films are shown.
“Pledges about showing at festivals or distributing films have become a major point of contention,” Dancyger said.
The pledge urges filmmakers of all levels to ask who is producing, financing or distributing their work before entering into any contractual agreements. “If you have an agent and/or manager, ask them to always include this information alongside any employment offer,” Film Workers for Palestine advises film workers in an FAQ attached to the pledge.
Organizers suggested film workers use clauses in their contracts to retain or reserve distribution rights for specific territories and to be consulted on decisions such as festival invitations and financial, production or distribution agreements.
Film Workers for Palestine listed Israeli broadcasters and festivals such as the Jerusalem Film Festival and the Haifa International Film Festival as examples of organizations that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid,” because of their alleged relationship with the Israeli government, which has been criticized by human rights advocates around the world for its prolonged military campaign in Gaza, one that has resulted in the deaths more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza Health Ministry.
The boycott doesn’t apply to institutions solely on the basis of receiving funds from the Israeli government — nor does this funding automatically make them “complicit,” organizers clarified.
Film Workers for Palestine’s pledge FAQ faulted “the vast majority” of Israeli production and distribution companies, film organizations and cinemas for not endorsing “the full, internationally-recognized rights of the Palestinian people.”
No, says the organizing group, saying the intent of the boycott is to refuse work with institutions that have a hand in “Israel’s human rights abuses against the Palestinian people.”
“This refusal takes aim at institutional complicity, not identity,” its FAQ states.
About 3,000 additional film industry workers have signed onto the pledge since Monday. Recent signatories include top Hollywood actors such as Andrew Garfield, Bowen Yang, Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix and Lily Gladstone, as well as director Jonathan Glazer, who won a best directing Oscar last year for “Zone of Interest,” a historical drama about a Nazi high commander.
Industry professionals such as writers, production designers and casting directors, as well as film critics and festival programmers, have also signed the pledge.
The Israeli Producers Association responded to the boycott with a statement calling the action “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,” the group said. “This shortsighted act seeks to eliminate precisely the collaborative efforts working toward ending violence and achieving peace.”
In a statement shared early Wednesday, Jerusalem Film Festival executive director Roni Mahadav-Levin wrote, “We deeply share the urgency and frustration expressed by the signatories of the petition. We, too, wish we could do more to stop the violence that surrounds us.”
“To clarify: the Jerusalem Film Festival is not ‘partnering’ with the government. We are an independent, privately run NGO with full operational autonomy. Neither the government nor any state institution has any influence over our programming or content,” Mahadav-Levin added.
“The Jerusalem Film Festival has consistently and publicly called for an end to the war — on stage, in the press, and in both Hebrew and English,” the statement continued. “Our program features a wide range of voices, including Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers who speak out strongly against violence and the use of force.”
Film Workers for Palestine, in response, said Israeli film institutions have a “clear” choice if they want to continue working with those who signed the boycott pledge: “End complicity in Israel’s genocide and apartheid, and endorse the full rights of the Palestinian people under international law, in line with Palestinian civil society guidelines.”
Film Workers for Palestine began working on the pledge a year ago, but as a global outcry over the human rights catastrophe in Gaza continues, conversations around Palestinian rights have taken center stage in the film world in recent weeks.
On Sept. 1, the International Association of Genocide Scholars passed a resolution stating that Israel’s two-year military campaign in Gaza meets “the legal definition of genocide,” citing its “indiscriminate and deliberate” attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza; the killing of medical personnel, aid workers and journalists; multiple forcible displacements of Gazans and the death or injury of some 50,000 Palestinian children. (An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman responded to the resolution on X, calling it “disgraceful” and accusing the scholarly group of relying on an unverified “campaign of lies” by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.)
Pro-Palestinian organizers staged protests at the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as the Venice Film Festival, two of the largest and most impactful showcases for new films. Before Venice began, hundreds of international filmmakers signed an open letter urging festival director Alberto Barbera and others to take “a clear and unambiguous stand” in condemning the war in Gaza.
At Venice, the docudrama “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” which used real emergency call recordings from a 6-year-old Palestinian girl trapped in her family’s car, had a profound effect on audiences, winning second prize at the festival.
Thorny issues of distribution and funding came up for another top film at the festival, “Father Mother Sister Brother,” with director Jim Jarmusch fielding questions about his relationship with Mubi, the movie’s distributor. In August, the production company and streaming platform behind 2024′s hit horror film “The Substance” faced backlash from filmmakers over one of its investors, Sequoia Capital, which reportedly also backs the Israeli defense tech firm Kela. (Mubi, as a non-Israeli entity, would not be subject to the current pledge, though Film Workers for Palestine launched a separate campaign concerning Mubi’s investing relationships in August.)
“I was of course quite disappointed and quite disconcerted by this relationship,” Jarmusch said at a news conference for the film, adding that he had spoken to Mubi about his concerns.
Indya Moore, one of the stars of “Father Mother Sister Brother,” also weighed in.
“There has been an incredible amount of creative warfare and resource warfare behind the scenes,” said Moore, one of the first 1,200 to sign this week’s pledge. “People are trying to figure out … how do we work in a capacity that is ethical and is not enabling a systematic pipeline that funds these kinds of things.”
“The kind of due diligence that people are learning how to do is a developing process,” Moore continued. “These are not questions that we’ve ever had to ask before especially as independent artists.”
Jada Yuan, Kareem Fahim and Gerry Shih contributed to this report.
