1000 Hollywood Stars Boycott Israeli Film Industry Over ‘Genocide, Apartheid’ Claims
Major Hollywood figures including Olivia Colman and Tilda Swinton join boycott of Israeli film institutions amid Gaza conflict, citing concerns over 'genocide'.
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A growing roster of Hollywood heavyweights, including names like Oscar winner Olivia Colman, comedian Ilana Glazer, and veteran actor Wallace Shawn, have signed a pledge to boycott Israel’s film industry, escalating tensions between the global arts community and Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
The pledge, organized by the activist collective Film Workers for Palestine, commits signatories to refusing participation in Israeli film festivals or institutions they accuse of being “implicated in genocide and apartheid.” Targets include some of Israel’s most prestigious cultural events: the Jerusalem Film Festival, the Haifa International Film Festival, Docaviv, and TLVFest.
Star-Studded Endorsements
The list spans Hollywood’s new guard and its established elite. Rising talents Ayo Edebiri, Josh O’Connor, and Joe Alwyn are joined by established names such as Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Gael García Bernal, Adam McKay, Ava DuVernay, and Yorgos Lanthimos. Jewish actors and creators long associated with progressive causes, including Glazer, Hannah Einbinder, Emma Seligman, and Shawn, are also prominent among the signatories.
Arts World in Political Crossfire
The boycott announcement follows a weekend in which The Voice of Hind Rajab, a docudrama about a five-year-old Gazan girl killed during the war, captured a major jury prize at the Venice Film Festival. The festival itself saw waves of pro-Palestinian protests, underscoring how cultural spaces have become flashpoints in the broader conflict.
Organizers stress the boycott applies only to institutions, not individual Israeli artists. Still, the move has provoked controversy: Israel’s film community, while often dependent on government funding, has historically been one of the country’s most vocal critics. At this year’s Jerusalem Film Festival, director Nadav Lapid showcased Yes, a blistering critique of post–October 7 Israel, in a section devoted to “freedom of expression and creativity in Israel.” That same festival now sits on the boycott list.
A Culture War Without Borders
The language accompanying the pledge acknowledges that “a few Israeli film entities are not complicit” but leaves the definition to guidelines set by Palestinian civil society. For now, the campaign adds to the intensifying clash between Israel’s cultural sector and a global film community that increasingly sees participation in its institutions as a political choice.