“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,” declared the filmmakers, actors, and film industry workers.
Groundxero | Sep 10, 2025
In a historic action, Oscar, BAFTA, Emmy, Cannes, Berlin, Venice, César, Goya, and Peabody Award winners are among the filmmakers pledging to refuse to work with Israeli film institutions and companies that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.” The pledge has rapidly expanded from an initial 1,200 signatories to more than 3,900 industry names, comprising acclaimed actors, directors, producers, and film workers worldwide.
Actors Olivia Colman, Ayo Edebiri, Mark Ruffalo, Riz Ahmed, Tilda Swinton, and Javier Bardem, as well as writer-directors Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Asif Kapadia, Emma Seligman, Boots Riley, Adam McKay, and Joshua Oppenheimer, say: “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 industry professionals, who include producers James Wilson, Robyn Slovo and Tracey Seaward, say: “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.”
Noting that “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”, the pledge states in a footnote that examples of complicity include “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government committing them.”
Film Workers for Palestine, who published the pledge, said on an FAQ page: “Despite operating in Israel’s system of apartheid, and therefore benefiting from it, the vast majority of Israeli film production & distribution companies, sales agents, cinemas and other film institutions have never endorsed the full, internationally-recognized rights of the Palestinian people.”
The mass declaration was inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, which was founded by Jonathan Demme, Martin Scorsese and 100 other prominent filmmakers in 1987 to demand that the U.S. film industry refuse to distribute films in apartheid South Africa.
Commenting on his decision to sign the Film Workers Pledge, Oscar-nominated producer/director Mike Lerner said, “it is the responsibility of every independently minded artist to use whatever powers of expression they possess to support the global resistance to overcome this horror. This pledge is an essential non-violent tool to undermine the deadly impunity that Israel and its allies currently enjoy.”
The current signatories, who include cinematographers, editors and cinema programmers, join a groundswell of protest in the film industry worldwide, including an open letter from members of the US actor’s union, SAG-AFTRA, a motion by Britain’s performing arts and entertainment union, Equity UK, affirming the rights of arts workers to freedom of speech, and a motion recently passed by the Norwegian Actors Equity Association recommending its members reject work with Israeli arts and cultural institutions as long as the occupation and apartheid policies are in place.
“Standing in solidarity with Palestinian filmmakers shouldn’t only be on us as individual artists. Our unions—which were built on solidarity—have an ethical and legal obligation to take meaningful action until Israel ends its genocide and apartheid,” said Amin El Gamal, actor and chair of SAG-AFTRA’s National MENA Committee. “There is a precedent for this. In the 1980s, SAG voted twice in favor of the cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa and urged its members to refuse to perform in South Africa or for South African production companies.”
For screenwriter and director David Farr, the decision to sign the pledge is personal. He said, “as the descendant of Holocaust survivors, I am distressed and enraged by the actions of the Israeli state, which has for decades enforced an apartheid system on the Palestinian people whose land they have taken, and which is now perpetuating genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. In this context I cannot support my work being published or performed in Israel.”
Film Workers Pledge to end Complicity
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.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about this pledge can be found here.