(UPDATED with Film Workers for Palestine‘s response) After hundreds of actors, directors and other industry professionals signed a pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions, Paramount is voicing its dissent.
Responding to the Film Workers for Palestine’s (FWP) recent open letter, the media and entertainment conglomerate called out the organization for “silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality” amid Israel‘s ongoing conflict with Hamas, despite the pledge being specifically aimed at institutions rather than individuals.
“At Paramount, we believe in the power of storytelling to connect and inspire people, promote mutual understanding and preserve the moments, ideas and events that shape the world we share. This is our creative mission,” the company said in a statement.
“We do not agree with recent efforts to boycott Israeli filmmakers. Silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace. The global entertainment industry should be encouraging artists to tell their stories and share their ideas with audiences throughout the world,” the statement continued. “We need more engagement and communication — not less.”
As noted on the FWP website, “This refusal takes aim at institutional complicity, not identity. There are also 2 million Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, and Palestinian civil society has developed context sensitive guidelines for that community.” (See below for a statement from FWP.)
A view of protesters during the pro-Palestine march hosted by Let Gaza Live on Jan. 21, 2024 in Park City, Utah (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
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Earlier this week, Emma Stone, Peter Sarsgaard, Lily Gladstone, Elliot Page, Ava DuVernay and Olivia Colman were among the hundreds of signatories boycotting Israeli film institutions that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”
The group said the pledge was inspired by the 1987 Filmmakers United Against Apartheid movement, founded by Jonathan Demme and Martin Scorsese at the height of apartheid in South Africa.
“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,” the letter read.
The organization said examples of complicity include “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government committing them.”
In a statement in response to the pledge, the Israeli Film and TV Producers Association said, “The signatories of this petition are targeting the wrong people.”
“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,” the statement read.
“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 a boycott is profoundly misguided.”
Meanwhile, Paramount is exploring a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery after coming under fire for canceling The Late Show on the heels of the company’s $16M settlement with Trump, which has been scrutinized as potential bribery by some lawmakers amid the company’s Skydance merger. Following Colbert’s ongoing jokes at the president’s expense, Trump has celebrated the talk show’s demise.
Film Workers for Palestine shared this statement in response to Paramount’s dissent.
“As has been widely reported, the Film Workers Pledge to End Complicity, endorsed by more than 4,000 actors, directors and others, does not target individuals based on identity. The pledge and the accompanying FAQs clearly state that the targets are complicit Israeli film institutions and companies, given their pervasive involvement in whitewashing or justifying Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its apartheid regime against all Palestinians.
“We sincerely hope that Paramount, in its statement Friday, isn’t intentionally misrepresenting the pledge in an attempt to silence our colleagues in the film industry. Such a move would only shield a genocidal regime from criticism at a time when global outrage is exponentially growing and while meaningful steps towards accountability are being taken by many. An important detail that should not be overlooked is the fact that Paramount’s new owner, Larry Ellison, has a well-documented, close relationship with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, has in the past reportedly vacationed on a Hawaiian island owned by Ellison, and, according to Haaretz, was even offered a seat on the board of Oracle, Ellison’s company.
“We are heartened that thousands of filmmakers worldwide have taken a collective moral stand by pledging not to work with Israeli institutions complicit in genocide. Our initiative is rooted in historic struggles, in particular the successful international movement to end the apartheid regime of South Africa. Almost two years into Israel’s genocide in Gaza, with seemingly no end in sight, a rapidly growing number of film workers are recognising that withdrawing their participation from an evil system, to paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr, is an essential duty they can no longer ignore.
“Should Israeli film institutions wish to continue working with pledge signatories, their choice is clear: end complicity in Israel’s genocide and apartheid, and endorse the full rights of the Palestinian people under international law, in line with Palestinian civil society guidelines. To date, almost none has.”