Over 20 filmmakers have withdrawn from the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam over the festival’s condemnation of liberatory Palestinian speech and a refusal to take a stand against Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza.
Filmmakers are taking action against the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) following the festival’s mischaracterization and attack on the slogan “From the River to the Sea Palestine Will be Free” and unwillingness to stand in solidarity with Palestinians facing Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza.
The IDFA, the world’s biggest international documentary film festival, has a history of highlighting Palestinian filmmakers. But recent statements and events by the festival have been viewed as a painful betrayal.
As Gaza-based filmmaker Mohammed Almughanni explained during one of his speeches at IDFA, “If you endorse me as a filmmaker showing the pain of Palestinians but you don’t endorse Palestinians having a life with dignity, your attention for my films means nothing to me. Films mean nothing to me if you don’t care for a free Palestine for the people in my films.” In another speech, Almughanni reacted to IDFA’s attack on the slogan “From the River to the Sea Palestine Will be Free,” saying, “If you don’t want us to chant for freedom from the river to the sea, then from where to where? From this iron wall to the other? From this barbwire to the next?”
So far, 21 filmmakers have withdrawn their films from the festival, and actions in solidarity with Palestine continue to dominate the festival.