Coixet, Bardem, and more than 1,300 filmmakers and actors will boycott Israeli companies and institutions.

BarcelonaMore than 1,300 film and audiovisual professionals from around the world have signed a manifesto committing the signatories to not working with Israeli festivals, production companies, distributors, television networks, or other institutions that they consider "implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people." The document, titled Film workers pledge to end complicity, was promoted by the organization Film Workers for Palestine and was made public this Monday.

According to the statement, the promoters are responding to the call of Palestinian filmmakers who have asked the international industry to reject "silence, racism, and dehumanization" and to use all possible means to end complicity with oppression. The promoters recall that the International Court of Justice has noted the existence of a "plausible risk of genocide" in Gaza and considers Israel's employment and apartheid policies illegal. In this sense, the signatories commit to not participating in festivals or cultural institutions that "whitewash or justify genocide and apartheid, or that collaborate with the government that promotes them."

The signatories include prominent figures in film and television, such as actresses Olivia Colman, Ayo Edebiri, and Tilda Swinton; actors Mark Ruffalo, Riz Ahmed, and Javier Bardem; and filmmakers such as Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Adam McKay. Other cultural sectors have promoted similar initiatives: last year, more than 7,000 writers and publishing workers, including Sally Rooney and Viet Thanh Nguyen, launched a boycott of Israeli publishing houses.

The initiative has also found echo in Catalonia, where several professionals have signed the manifesto. Among them are director Isabel Coixet, critic and academic Carlos Losilla, journalist and programmer Miquel Escudero Diéguez, sociologist and cultural manager Isona Admetlla—a member of the Berlinale World Cinema Fund team and collaborator of the Málaga Film Festival—and editor Oscar de Gispert. Their endorsement joins that of a broader group of European and Latin American creators who wished to join the declaration, which totaled more than 1,300 signatories.

The promoters explain, in a press release, that the historical precedent that inspired them is the Filmmakers United Against Apartheid movement, founded in 1987 by Jonathan Demme, Martin Scorsese, and around 100 other filmmakers, which urged the American industry not to distribute films in South Africa during apartheid. "It is the responsibility of every independent artist to use the tools at their disposal to express their opposition to the impunity of Israel and its allies," said Oscar-nominated producer and director Mike Lerner in statements released by the organizers.

The document also highlights that the vast majority of Israeli festivals and institutions, such as the Jerusalem Film Festival, Haifa International Film Festival, Docaviv, or TLVfest, have never explicitly supported the internationally recognized rights of the Palestinian people. Therefore, they consider that working there is equivalent to legitimizing state policies. The organizers affirm that the mobilization not only seeks to impact the cultural sphere, but also aims to contribute to generating a global debate about the responsibility of governments and institutions in the conflict. "In the face of the destruction in Gaza and the lack of response from political leaders, artists have an obligation to make their voices heard and reject complicity," the manifesto states.