Natalie Portman, Justine Triet (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Pérez”), Alice Diop (“Saint Omer”), Arthur Harari (“The Unknown”) and Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”) are among more than 350 film industry figures who have signed an open letter condemning the cultural boycott of Israeli director Nadav Lapid. The latter is a fierce critic of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government who has lived in self-imposed exile in France since 2021. His latest film, “Yes!” was called a “blistering attack on Israeli nationalism” by Variety.
The letter, titled “Cinema Is Not an Embassy” and published on Monday in Le Monde newspaper, denounces what it calls a “campaign of intimidation” targeting the politically engaged filmmaker, and “a deliberate effort to exclude a filmmaker from a space of discussion and creation.” Other signatories include Arnaud Desplechin, Claire Denis, Mia Hansen-Løve, Bertrand Bonello, Mati Diop, Stéphane Demoustier, and Romanian director Radu Jude, as well as producers Saïd Ben Saïd and Judith Lou Lévy who worked with Lapid on “Synonym” and “Yes!,” respectively.
The controversy stems from Lapid’s planned participation as a jury member at the FID Marseille international film festival, running July 7–12. Festival director Tsveta Dobreva said Lapid was initially invited “solely out of respect for his cinema,” but she soon began receiving calls demanding the withdrawal of his invitation. When pressure intensified, the festival proposed a scaled-back arrangement — Lapid would simply present his 2011 debut feature “Policeman” at a public screening and book signing. But then around 10 filmmakers ultimately withdrew their films from the selection, forcing Lapid to pull out entirely. Those who objected Lapid’s participation to the festival pointed out that he accepted partial funding for his 2025 film “Yes” from the Israel Film Fund, which they view as an arm of the Israeli state. In reality, the Israel Film Fund stands as the country’s primary source of financing for Israeli and Palestinian films, and it operates independently from the government. It has a long legacy of supporting films from liberal voices, such as Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir,” Samuel Maoz’s “Lebanon” and most recently “Yes.”
Franco-Algerian director Narimane Mari, one of the filmmakers who withdrew her film, rejected the accusation of censorship: “We are not condemning a human being — we are refusing a cultural and political model that continues to be maintained,” she was quoted saying in Le Monde.
The open letter signed by Portman, Triet and others directly challenges the logic behind the cultural boycott. “In what way does the presence of a filmmaker on a jury or the screening of one of his films make him a representative of a state? Inviting an artist to a festival is not about elevating him to the status of a cultural ambassador, but about recognizing a body of work, a career, and a cinematic vision.” The letter asks pointedly, “How could Nadav Lapid — whose work has been built over many years on a direct critique of the policies pursued by his country’s various governments, at the cost of taking real risks, and who has publicly denounced, on numerous occasions, the destruction of Gaza — be equated with any form of Israeli cultural embassy?” It calls this conflation “a logic of assignment” that reduces an artist to their nationality.
The letter also highlights the broader culture of intimidation spreading through film institutions. “Instead of opening a discussion on possible forms of resistance, we are witnessing the proliferation of tactics of intimidation that shut down precisely this space for vision, thought, and struggle.”
“Cinema can remain a space for critical discourse only if it resists this logic. Not by distancing itself from the world’s conflicts, but by refusing to reproduce their most brutal simplifications. Nadav Lapid’s films can be discussed, challenged, or rejected. But first, they must be seen,” says the open letter.
In an interview published on June 6 in Le Monde, Lapid said he agreed to withdraw to avoid putting the festival in difficulty, but expressed frustration at the escalating pressure. “For a year, it was my film ‘Yes’ that was being attacked. And then, suddenly, my mere presence became unacceptable. I asked myself: what exactly do they want? That I stop making films? That I leave France? How far will this go?”
He also warned of a broader chilling effect on cultural institutions: “Many festivals are now beginning to avoid certain films or people simply out of fear of controversy. And paradoxically, those who claim to want to draw attention to Palestine sometimes produce the opposite effect — films disappear, debates no longer take place, and everyone retreats into silence.”
Lapid, who previously won the Golden Bear in Berlin with “Synonym” and a prize at Cannes with “Ahed’s Knee,” nonetheless said he refuses to regard the boycotting filmmakers as enemies, suggesting their actions reflect “powerlessness, anger and immense frustration at the political inaction around Gaza,” and reiterating his own long-standing support for real political sanctions against Israel. “The real issue is genuine political sanctions against the Israeli state — which I have supported for years,” he said.
