Mark Ruffalo and Olivia Colman lead Hollywood boycott on Israeli film
Over 1,300 film industry professionals, including Olivia Colman, Ayo Edebiri, Mark Ruffalo and Tilda Swinton, have pledged to boycott Israeli film institutions.
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In a new pledge, some of Hollywood’s biggest stars are vowing to boycott Israeli film institutions “that are implicated” in the country’s brutal military campaign in Gaza.
“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,” reads the pledge, posted to the Film Workers for Palestine organization’s website Sept. 8.
Among the some 3,000-plus signatories were “White Lotus” actress Aimee Lou Wood, “Charmed” star and activist Alyssa Milano, Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone, actor Mark Ruffalo, lauded filmmaker Ava DuVernay and “The Bear” lead Ayo Edebiri.
The pledge, organizers wrote, was in answer to a call from Palestinian artists, who they say have urged the international film community to take action.
“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,” the pledge reads.
“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 pledge says.
Other stars who inked their names to the pledge include “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon, comedian and actress Ilana Glazer and “The Roses” star Olivia Colman. Other notable signatories include Brian Cox, Lily Gladstone, Joe Alwyn, Julie Christie, Tilda Swinton and Susan Sarandon.
While the pledge binds those in the film industry to avoiding Israeli film festivals and theaters, it does not apply to working with individuals from the country, the website says.
“The call is for film workers to refuse to work with Israeli institutions that are complicit in Israel’s human rights abuses against the Palestinian people,” the organization emphasizes in the FAQ portion of the pledge.
Following an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has carried out an unrelenting military campaign in Gaza, bombing large swaths of the razor-thin territory, including hospitals, and refusing to allow in aid groups or independent journalists. Over 64,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the war so far, Gaza’s health ministry says, and nearly the entire population has been internally displaced. Much of the territory lies in ruins and a hunger crisis has grown far worse in recent months.
Contributing: Reuters
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usatoday.com ’
