More than 1,300 actors, directors, and producers—including some of the most recognizable names in Hollywood and global cinema—have pledged not to work with Israeli film institutions they say are complicit in "genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people," according to a statement published by the advocacy group Film Workers for Palestine. The pledge, which has quickly gained momentum since its release on September 8, 2025, is the latest in a series of cultural protests against Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the broader treatment of Palestinians.
The list of signatories reads like a roll call from the Academy Awards: Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, Tilda Swinton, Ayo Edebiri, Riz Ahmed, and Josh O’Connor, among others. Acclaimed directors including Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos, Adam McKay, and Joshua Oppenheimer have also added their support. Arab film and television figures such as Bassem Youssef, Dhafer L'Abidine, Dina Shihabi, Khalid Abdalla, Farah Nabulsi, Annemarie Jacir, and Hany Abu-Assad have joined as well, highlighting the pledge’s broad international backing.
“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 signatories declared in their joint statement, as reported by The Guardian. The pledge was crafted in response to direct appeals from Palestinian filmmakers, who urged the global industry to “refuse silence, racism and dehumanisation” and to “do everything humanly possible” to end their oppression. The statement further asserts, “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.”
The campaign draws historical inspiration from the 1987 Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, which saw film industry leaders like Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme refuse to distribute their work in apartheid-era South Africa. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mike Lerner described the new pledge as “an essential non-violent tool to undermine the deadly impunity that Israel and its allies currently enjoy.”
The pledge is clear in its scope: signatories will not screen films, appear at, or otherwise work with Israeli film festivals, cinemas, broadcasters, or production companies that, in their view, are implicated in genocide and apartheid. Examples of complicity cited include "whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government committing them." The movement stresses that its refusal targets institutions, not individuals, aiming to avoid conflating Israeli identity with government policy. As Film Workers for Palestine explained, “This refusal takes aim at institutional complicity, not identity.”
While the campaign has drawn significant support, it has also faced criticism from within the Israeli film community. The Israeli Producers Association, in a statement to The Guardian, argued, “For decades, we Israeli artists, storytellers, and creators have been the primary voices allowing audiences to hear and witness the complexity of the conflict, including Palestinian narratives and criticism of Israeli state policies. We work with Palestinian creators, telling our shared stories and promoting peace and an end to violence through thousands of films, TV series, and documentaries. This call for boycott is profoundly misguided. By targeting us—the creators who give voice to diverse narratives and foster dialogue—these signatories are undermining their own cause and attempting to silence us.”
The pledge arrives at a time of heightened activism within the entertainment industry. According to Variety, hundreds of actors and filmmakers—including Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Ralph Fiennes, and Guillermo del Toro—recently signed an open letter condemning what they described as the film industry’s silence over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Film industry unions such as SAG-AFTRA in the United States, Equity UK, and the Norwegian Actors Equity Association have all taken steps to support performers’ rights to speak out or have encouraged their members to refuse work with Israeli cultural institutions. Amin El Gamal, chair of SAG-AFTRA’s National MENA Committee, stated, “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.”
The pledge’s publication follows a series of high-profile pro-Palestinian demonstrations at international film festivals. Most recently, the 82nd Venice International Film Festival saw thousands gather in protest, with the Venice4Palestine group demanding that the festival condemn Israel’s military actions in Gaza. The cultural boycott movement has also been echoed by Palestinian filmmakers themselves, who, in an open letter last summer, accused Hollywood of “dehumanising” Palestinians on screen and called on their colleagues to “stand against working with production companies that are deeply complicit in dehumanising Palestinians, or whitewashing and justifying Israel’s crimes against us.”
The backdrop to these actions is a devastating conflict. According to Gaza health officials, more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, resulting in 1,200 Israeli deaths. Experts in food security have reported famine in parts of Gaza, though Israel disputes these claims. 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 International Association of Genocide Scholars has also declared that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide, a conclusion Israel’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed as “an embarrassment to the legal profession and to any academic standard.”
The pledge acknowledges that not all Israeli film entities are complicit, noting that “a few Israeli film entities are not complicit” and encouraging adherence to guidelines set by Palestinian civil society. Major Israeli film festivals, including the Jerusalem Film Festival, Haifa International Film Festival, Docaviv, and TLVFest, are cited as examples of institutions that continue to partner with the Israeli government, which the pledge’s authors see as problematic.
Screenwriter David Farr, whose family survived the Holocaust, explained his motivation: “I am distressed and enraged by the actions of the Israeli state, which has for decades enforced an apartheid system on the Palestinian people… In this context I cannot support my work being published or performed in Israel. The cultural boycott was significant in South Africa. It will be significant this time and in my view should be supported by all artists of conscience.”
As the debate continues, it is clear that the pledge has ignited a new phase of cultural activism, with leading film figures leveraging their influence to call for institutional accountability. Whether this campaign will lead to substantive change or further polarization within the industry remains to be seen, but its impact is already reverberating far beyond the world of cinema.
