More than a thousand film professionals, including Hollywood luminaries Olivia Colman, Ava DuVernay, and Tilda Swinton, have pledged to avoid working with specific Israeli film organizations, The New York Times reported. The commitment was announced in an open statement released by Film Workers for Palestine, a collective advocating for an end to the Gaza Strip's humanitarian crisis, on Monday. "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 statement declared, as cited by The New York Times.
Additional prominent signatories encompass filmmaker Adam McKay, performer Mark Ruffalo, and actress Ayo Edebiri, who pledged against screening work at, participating in, or collaborating with Israeli movie theaters, broadcast outlets, and production firms they consider "are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people," The New York Times reported.
I am pleased to share that despite a complete lack of credentials, publications, or professional experience in the field, I have been accepted as a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (seriously). pic.twitter.com/HymRw5loVV
— Michael -- ?LET MY PEOPLE GO!!! (@maltman613) September 3, 2025
The coalition indicated its approach drew from Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, the 1980s initiative that campaigned against South Africa's segregation policies, according to The New York Times. A collective of scholarly authorities called the International Association of Genocide Scholars announced last month that Israel's Gaza operations satisfied genocide's judicial requirements.
