More than 1,300 filmmakers, actors pledge to refuse to work with Israeli film institutions

LONDON

Oscar, BAFTA, Emmy, and Cannes award winners are among more than 1,300 names in the film industry who launched a pledge Monday, saying they refuse to work with Israeli film institutions "implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people."

In a statement signed by hundreds of filmmakers, actors, film industry workers, and institutions, they said they recognize the power of cinema to shape perceptions and pledged not to work with Israeli film institutions.

"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," the statement said.

Recalling the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, the statement said that freedom for all people is a "profound moral duty that none of us can ignore."

"We answer the call of Palestinian filmmakers, 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," they said.

“Inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid who refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa, we pledge not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions—including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies—that are implicated* in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people,” the statement added.

Signatories include Olivia Colman, Javier Bardem, Aimee Lou Wood, Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, Riz Ahmed, Tilda Swinton, Julia Sawalha, Miriam Margolyes, Ken Loach, and Juliet Stevenson.

Israel has killed more than 64,500 Palestinians in a brutal offensive in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.