Israeli film industry calls boycott pledge deeply troubling'

"The pledge, announced on Monday, was initially signed by 1,200 film-makers including Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Asif Kapadia, Boots Riley and Joshua Oppenheimer; and actors Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Ayo Edebiri, Riz Ahmed, Josh O'Connor, Cynthia Nixon, Julie Christie, Ilana Glazer, Rebecca Hall, Aimee Lou Wood and Debra Winger. A further 600 film professionals have joined their number since then, including Jonathan Glazer, Emma Stone and James Schamus, Peter Sarsgaard and Lily Gladstone."

"As film-makers, actors, film industry workers, and institutions, we recognise the power of cinema to shape perceptions, the pledge reads. 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. But representatives of Israeli cinema are now speaking out against the move, which takes inspiration from the cultural boycott that contributed to the end of apartheid in South Africa."

Around 1,800 international film professionals have pledged not to work with Israeli film institutions they accuse of being implicated in genocide and apartheid against Palestinians. The initial signatories included roughly 1,200 filmmakers and actors such as Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Olivia Colman and Mark Ruffalo, with about 600 more joining later including Jonathan Glazer and Emma Stone. Signatories emphasize cinema's power to shape perceptions and call for action amid violence in Gaza. Representatives of Israeli cinema, including Nadav Ben Simon of the screenwriters' guild, describe the boycott as troubling and counterproductive and note longstanding collaboration and Palestinian narratives in Israeli work.

Read at www.theguardian.com