DC Film Society: Adam's Rib May 2024

Profiles in Cowardice

Buried in the worldwide news from last week was the Beijing International Film Festival cancelling a screening of the Israeli film The City. According to The Jerusalem Post, “The team that had been preparing to attend the festival with The City ... was supposed to fly to Beijing on April 21 but they were told that their tickets had been cancelled and that they would be notified about their new flight details. Since then, the representatives of the festival simply stopped answering their calls.”

Taken by itself the cancellation would hardly be worth mentioning, especially as China would never be called a bastion of free expression. But this is part of a pattern emerging even in “free countries.” Earlier in April, the Seret International Film Festival had its long time UK partners Picturehouse and Curzon Cinemas back out of this year’s event due to "safety concerns." The festival’s organizer, Odelia Haroush, said that “Picturehouse had told her in November that they wouldn’t be able to host any screenings because cinema management was ‘afraid’ for staff and visitors.” Last month in Canada, the Playhouse Cinema “postponed” renting out its theater for the Hamilton Jewish Film Festival, due to “security and safety concerns at this particularly sensitive time.” Later the Cinema clarified that “at no time did we state that we had received threats of violence related to hosting the Hamilton Jewish Film Festival, nor did we at any time receive any threats of violence prior to our decision to postpone it,” making their decision baffling. What exactly were the “safety and security concerns” in that case? Did they back out because of threats they anticipated getting in the future?

Very well, but none of this would ever happen in the U.S., “the home of the free” right? Wrong. In early April the Bryn Mawr Film Institute in Pennsylvania cancelled the showing of the Israeli film The Child Within Me, a part of Philadelphia's Israeli Film Festival. The Institute explained that “it has become clear that our showing this movie is being widely taken among individuals and institutions in our community as an endorsement of Israel’s recent and ongoing actions. This is not a statement we intended or wish to make.”

Like many, I have strong opinions about the Israel-Gaza War. My wife was born and raised in Israel, and we have family there. But that is not what this column is about. This is about thugs who try to intimidate theater and other venue management into not showing certain films simply because of the nation that these films are from. And this column is about those that, instead of holding firm, cower in the face of that intimidation.

Let us dive right into the heart of the matter, the fallacy behind “our showing this movie is being widely taken among individuals and institutions in our community as an endorsement of Israel’s recent and ongoing actions.” The Freer Gallery and the American Film Institute Silver Theater regularly run the Iranian Film Festival. Films from China regularly play at film festivals and in arthouse theaters. Does this mean that the people behind these venues, and those that see these films endorse the actions of the Iranian or Chinese governments? Not only is the answer an emphatic “no” but you would be laughed out of the room by even making that argument. So why is the answer different for Israeli films? Perhaps those trying to drive the Israeli films out aren’t merely against the war but any sign of Israeli life, art or culture. After all, Israeli singer Matisyahu has had shows cancelled. Famed Israeli-American chef/restaurateur Michael Solomonov has had his restaurants picketed and faces calls for boycotting. Like the Israeli filmmakers, neither Matisyahu or Solomonov bear any responsibility for any aspect of the war. Their only crime was being Israeli and Jewish.

The debate about showing Israeli films would only prove legitimate if these films were some type of pro-war propaganda, celebrating the Israeli military and demonizing the Palestinians. Then we could discuss how we need to allow unpopular ideas to be heard, and whether a venue could be seen as supporting these ideas. (SIDEBAR: The irony here is that there are numerous voices in the Israeli film community, and many are critical of Israel’s right-wing government.) So, let us examine the actual films in question. The Child Within Me is a documentary about Yehuda Poliker, one of the giants of Israeli music. Poliker is the son of Holocaust survivors, who came out of the closet in 2010. The Jerusalem Post described The City as “a unique feature-length rap, done noir-style that mixes comedy and social criticism.” The Hamilton Film Festival includes Hope Without Boundaries, a documentary about an Israeli field hospital helping victims of the Ukraine War, and The Boy, the last film by Yahav Winner, who was killed by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre.

Perhaps focusing on whether films are shown may seem trivial in the light of the lives that have been lost and the protests the war has sparked around the globe, but I do not believe that filmmakers' voices should be silenced even under difficult circumstances. If some people are so outraged by the war that they do not want to see Israeli films, that is their right and their choice. But to deny others that choice goes against any concept of freedom I understand. That is censorship, pure and simple. Then there is the venue management and staff. If there are serious threats of violence, they should work with law enforcement to address them. But I suspect in most cases, they are just listening to the loudest voices in the room, giving in to rumor. While the venue management are likely not anti-Semites, they are sure enabling them.

Thankfully, some of the stories I described got happy endings. Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath helped the Hamilton Jewish Film Festival find a new venue. Philadelphia’s Israeli Film Festival secured a court order requiring the Bryn Mawr Film Institute to honor its contract and show The Child Within Me. The world did not end. Still, with the war continuing it is up to each of us that all filmmakers, be they Jewish or Muslim, be they Israeli or Palestinian, can share their films without threats or intimidation. Hearing others’ voices can help end conflict, not create it. In the end we go back to Philadelphia’s own Benjamin Franklin who stated that “Those who will give up liberty for security deserve neither.”

Adam Spector
May 1, 2024