Over 1,200 film industry figures pledge to boycott Israeli institutes

More than 1,200 filmmakers, actors and other film industry professionals on Monday pledged not to work with Israeli film institutions they say are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people, in an open letter released by advocacy group Film Workers for Palestine. The pledge, circulated as an open letter and social media post, said signatories will refuse to screen films, appear at or otherwise collaborate with festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies that the group deems complicit.

Organizers said the list includes roughly 1,200 industry figures, while other reports put the number at more than 1,300. Prominent names on the list include Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Riz Ahmed, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos and Boots Riley, among directors, writers, editors and cinematographers. The statement said examples of complicity include whitewashing or justifying acts it calls genocide and apartheid, and partnering with the government alleged to be committing them, naming the Jerusalem Film Festival as an example of an event that partners with the Israeli government.

The pledge cites a ruling by the International Court...