British directors Ken Loach and Mike Leigh have pulled out as patrons of London’s Phoenix Cinema in protest of the venue hosting the Israeli international Seret film festival.
“My resignation as a patron of the Phoenix shows what I think of their decision. It is simply unacceptable,” Loach told The Guardian after resigning.
As part of the festival, the north London cinema hosted a special screening of “Supernova: The Music Festival Massacre” about the Hamas-led terrorist attack at the Nova on 7 October.
Pro-Palestine solidarity groups, as well as a number of staff at the Phoenix Cinema, called for the screening to be canceled over Seret’s links to the Israeli culture ministry and the Israeli embassy in the UK.
Cinema chains Picturehouse and Curzon had already canceled all Seret screenings over safety concerns.
Pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protesters clashed outside the historic north London cinema ahead of the screening, just hours after the cinema’s front doors were spray painted in red with the message: “Say no to art washing”.
Among the groups calling for the screening to be canceled was Artists for Palestine UK, who said: “Seret is part of a broader artwashing strategy by the Israel apartheid state that uses culture to whitewash and cover up its crimes against the Palestinian people.”
In response to the graffiti and protests, Seret’s organizers thanked those who came out on Thursday in support of the screening.
“You all filled our hearts with joy and hope. Thank you, London!” organizers wrote on the festival’s Facebook page.
The resignation of Loach and Lee forms part of a growing cultural boycott of Israel, which included calls for the country to be .
Loach and Leigh’s resignations are a sign of the growing support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which aims to pressure Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories. The BDS movement has been endorsed by a number of high-profile artists and intellectuals, including Roger Waters, Brian Eno, and Alice Walker.
