Israeli Boycott Pledge Adds Hundreds Of Signatories Including Emma Stone & Peter Sarsgaard, Israeli Producers Association Responds — Update 

SECOND UPDATE: Film Workers for Palestine has reported hundreds of additions to it’s list of signatories, including two-time Oscar winner Emma Stone, Peter Sarsgaard, Lily Gladstone, and Elliot Page. The full list can be found here. Scroll down to read our initial story, including the response from the Israeli Film & TV Producers Association.

UPDATED with response from Israeli Film & TV Producers Association: Advocacy group Film Workers for Palestine said Monday that more than 1,000 high-profile industry professionals, including names like Ava DuVernay and Olivia Colman, have signed a pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”

The pledge was made public this morning with an open letter posted on Instagram. Film Workers for Palestine states that 1,200 filmmakers, actors and film industry workers have signed the letter. 

High-profile names listed by the group include Adam McKay, Asif Kapadia, DuVernay, Ayo Edebiri, Boots Riley, Cynthia Nixon, Debra Winger, Emma Seligman, Gael García Bernal, Hannah Einbinder, Ilana Glazer, Javier Bardem, Josh O’Connor, Joshua Oppenheimer, Lukas Dhont, Mark Ruffalo, Melissa Barrera, Morgan Spector, Colman, Riz Ahmed, Susan Sarandon, Tilda Swinton and Yorgos Lanthimos.

The group said the pledge was inspired by the 1987 Filmmakers United Against Apartheid movement, founded by Jonathan Demme and Martin Scorsese at the height of apartheid in South Africa.

“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 letter read. 

The organization said examples of complicity include “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government committing them.” 

In a statement in response to the pledge, the Israeli Film and TV Producers Association said, “The signatories of this petition are targeting the wrong people.”

“For decades, we Israeli artists, storytellers, and creators have been the primary voices allowing audiences to hear and witness the complexity of the conflict, including Palestinian narratives and criticism of Israeli state policies,” the statement read. 

“We work with Palestinian creators, telling our shared stories and promoting peace and an end to violence through thousands of films, TV series, and documentaries. This call for a boycott is profoundly misguided.”

The statement continues to describe the boycott as “shortsighted,” serving to “eliminate precisely the collaborative efforts working toward ending violence and achieving peace.” 

“We will not allow this and will push back in our efforts to end violence and bring just peace to our region for the benefit of all,” the statement adds. “We call on the international community to recognize our commitment to dialogue, peace, and giving voice to all sides of this conflict. Our stories are tools for understanding and healing, and we will continue using them to help bring an end to violence.”

The Guardian first reported on the pledge.

Read the full letter below. 

As filmmakers, actors, film industry workers, and institutions, we recognize the power of cinema to shape perceptions. 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 world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, has ruled that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, and that Israel’s occupation and apartheid against Palestinians are unlawful. Standing for equality, justice, and freedom for all people is a profound moral duty that none of us can ignore. So too, we must speak out now against the harm done to the Palestinian people.

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.

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.

* Examples of complicity include whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government committing them.