Filmmaker Jim Jarmusch has spoken out against indie film distributor Mubi after learning the company received investment from Sequoia Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital film with ties to the Israeli military.
Mubi co-produced the director’s latest effort, Father Mother Sister Brother, which premiered yesterday at the Venice International Film Festival. During the film’s official press conference, Jarmusch responded to a question about Sequoia Capital’s parallel investment in Kela, a defense-tech startup founded by Israeli intelligence units in response to the Oct. 7 terror attack.
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“My relationship with Mubi started much before that, and they were fantastic to work with on the film,” Jarmusch told reporters (via Variety). “I was disappointed and disconcerted by this relationship. If you want to discuss it, you have to address Mubi. I’m not the spokesman. However, yes, I was concerned. I also have a distribution agreement with Mubi for certain territories, which I had entered into before my knowledge of this.”
He continued, “Having said that, on a personal level, I have to say I’m an independent filmmaker, and I have taken money from various sources to be able to realize my films and I consider pretty much all corporate money is dirty money. If you start analyzing each of these film companies and their financing structures, you’re going to find a lot of dirt. You can avoid it and not make films at all. But films are how I carry what I like to say. I’m concerned, but one thing I don’t like is putting the onus of the explanation of us, the artists. It’s not us. It’s Mubi. You must address concerning this, and not just Mubi, but other companies as well.”
In July, multiple filmmakers signed an open letter to Mubi urging the outfit not just to reconsider its relationship with Sequoia Capital, but also to publicly condemn the company over what the letter-writers characterized as “genocide profiteering.” It was revealed that Mubi received the investment in May, leading to immediate criticism about the source of the money.
Mubi CEO Efe Cakarel responded to the outcry in August, writing in a statement, “The profits Mubi generates do not fund any other companies in Sequoia’s portfolio. Our returns go to Sequoia’s limited partners — institutions such as universities, foundations, and pension funds — not to other Sequoia-backed businesses such as Kela. Any suggestion that our work is connected to funding the war is simply untrue.”
Father Mother Sister Brother was written and directed by Jarmusch, and stars Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver, Vicky Krieps, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Indya Moore, and Luka Sabbat.
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