Palestinian human rights groups have called for a boycott of this year’s Academy Award-qualifying Doc Edge international documentary film festival over concern it’s funded by the Embassy of Israel.
Some have also taken issue with the festival showing films by Israeli directors, but none from Palestinians in the wake of the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
But the festival, which runs in Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and online between June 1 and July 10, says it will not change its offering of films.
The festival attracted controversy in 2018 for screening a film then about Israel’s founder and first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.
But calls for a boycott have been ignited again after Doc Edge named the Israeli Embassy as a supporter on its website.
Palestinians in Aotearoa Co-ordinating Committee spokesman Tameem Shaltoni said that the group asked Doc Edge organisers to refuse sponsorship from the embassy this year, however, its request was refused.
That group argues accepting any funding from the Israeli government normalises a state with “an appalling record of breaches of human rights and international law”.
Shaltoni said the group’s initial objective was not to boycott the festival, only to end its Israeli support. But after its request was refused, Shaltoni said it had no choice but to call for a boycott.
Another organisation, Justice for Palestine, also supports a boycott of Doc Edge.
“It’s about accepting the funding … Would they accept sponsorship from the Russian Embassy?” said Neil Ballantyne, co-convenor of Justice for Palestine, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Documentary filmmaking is about speaking truth to power – here they are refusing to recognise [human rights abuses],” Ballantyne said.
A letter was sent by Doc Edge executive director Dan Shanan on June 3 to its contributing filmmakers and supporters in response to a boycott call from a third organisation, Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa. The network said it was concerned about the embassy’s funding of the festival, and the festival’s decision to screen the film Dead Sea Guardians by Israeli directors Ido Glass and Yoav Kleinman.
Shanan’s letter said the festival was committed to “curatorial independence, the rights of filmmakers to share their important stories with New Zealanders, and our audience’s rights to experience a rich and diverse range of views and narratives”.
“We strongly believe that restricting freedom of expression contributes to greater polarisation around complex issues. Our curatorial independence reflects our organisational values and enabled Doc Edge to be selected as an Oscar-qualifying festival.”
But Justice for Palestine’s Ballantyne said the request to refuse embassy funding was not about censoring creative work or freedom of expression. “It’s about refusing to accept funding from an oppressive regime. It’s about refusing to normalise Israel as just another arts funder.”
Free Speech Union chief executive Jonathan Ayling said if the festival refused the embassy’s funding, that action would amount to taking a side. “Taking sponsorship and airing documentaries from a group does not by any means show endorsement. To truly be apolitical the festival must stand firm against these calls,” Ayling said.
Doc Edge’s general manager Rachael Penman said that she did not believe it was the festival’s place to take a position on the concerns expressed by the groups.
Penman said of 1284 films submitted this year, 113 were programmed. “Regrettably, no Palestinian films met the qualifying criteria,” she said. It received no Palestinian films in 2021, but in 2020 it presented Ibrahim: A Fate to Define directed by Lina Alabed.
The festival relied on fundraising from “a range of supporters” – however that funding represented “a tiny fraction” of the not-for-profit’s operating budget, Penman said, with most coming from box office sales.
Several other embassies, including Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, the United States, and the European Union also support the festival. “If we were to boycott the films of every country whose policies people may disagree with, we would soon be living in a world without movies,” Penman said.
When asked about the boycott calls, Israeli Ambassador to New Zealand Ran Yaakoby said: “We are accompanying and have been gladly supporting [Doc Edge] for many years, and we are proud of the quality of our film and TV industry being acknowledged by this distinguished film festival.”
