Hollywood figures pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions 'complicit in Gaza genocide'

Hundreds of prominent Hollywood figures have joined a new call to boycott Israeli film institutions that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people,” organisers said. 

The pledge originated from Film Workers for Palestine, an international collective of film professionals formed in 2024. 

Signatories include major Hollywood actors, such as Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Riz Ahmed, Emma Stone and Ayo Edebiri, and directors like Ava DuVernay and Yorgos Lanthimos among many others.

“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," they said in a statement.

The organisation said it had collected more than 3,500 signatures as of Wednesday. 

The group has not called for a boycott on all Israeli film institutions. Instead, the pledge commits signatories "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."

The collective said examples of complicity include "whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid" and partnering with the Israeli government.

The group said their open letter was inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid. This 1987 initiative gathered more than a hundred members, including directors Jonathan Demme and Martin Scorsese, who refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa. 

Film Workers for Palestine also said they were answering a 2024 call from Palestinian filmmakers who accused Hollywood of dehumanising Palestinians on screen.

The pledge comes after a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the recent Venice International Film Festival drew an estimated 10,000 participants. That followed a call by a group called Venice4Palestine for the festival to condemn the destruction in Gaza.