More than 1,300 filmmakers including Javier Bardem, Susan Sarandon and Tilda Swinton have refused to work with Israeli film companies allegedly implicated in genocide in Gaza.
Screenwriters, producers, actors, and directors have signed a pledge by Filmmakers for Palestine, marking a growing movement within the film industry to speak out against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The signatories have committed to boycotting Israeli film institutions and companies they say are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”
Among the notable names are actors Riz Ahmed, Miriam Margolyes, Juliet Stevenson, and director Ken Loach. Writer-directors like Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster) and Asif Kapadia (Senna, Amy, Diego Maradona) have also joined the pledge. Producers such as BAFTA winners James Wilson and Robyn Slovo (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) are among the supporters.
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Palme d’Or-winning producer Rebecca O’Brien, who worked on I, Daniel Blake, told Sky News that Israeli cultural institutions have long played a role in “masking and justifying” apartheid and war crimes, often through direct ties with the government.
Following a statement by the International Association of Genocide Scholars declaring Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, the pledge calls on the film industry to reject “silence, racism, and dehumanization” and end complicity in oppression.
