Hollywood stars turn away

Actors Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo have signed up to a boycott against the Israeli film industry, writes Micha Frazer-Carroll, but is this kind of protest effective?

- Micha Frazer-Carroll

I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the news that some of Hollywood’s biggest stars had decided to start boycotting Israel. It broke on Monday, and continued to snowball in the days that followed: 4,000 actors, directors, and other significant film-industry professionals had pledged to refrain from working with Israeli film institutions, in protest at the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.

“We pledge not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions - including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies - that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people,” their strongly worded statement read.

Signatories include some surprisingly big hitters: actors Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Ayo Edebiri, Susan Sarandon, Riz Ahmed, Elliot Page, Andrew Garfield, Brian Cox and Cynthia Nixon. Filmmakers among the signatories include Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos, Boots Riley and Joshua Oppenheimer.