NFDC cancels Israeli Film Festival after boycott campaign by artists, activists

In response to an online campaign joined by over a thousand people, including actors and activists, the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) was compelled to cancel an Israeli film festival scheduled in Mumbai.

The event, initially set for August 21 and 22 at the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC), was called off following the backlash.

The campaign, organized by the India Palestine Solidarity Forum, aimed to raise awareness about the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The signatories include actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak, freedom fighter GG Parikh, documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, peace activist and author Tushar Gandhi and India Palestine Solidarity Forum’s Feroze Mithiborwala.

“This screening by the NFDC [National Film Development Corporation] is shamefully being held at a time, when the entire world is witness to Israeli war crimes, the ongoing Holocaust and the genocide in Gaza, and across all of Palestine,” read the joint statement.

The management of the National Film Development Corporation and the National Museum of Indian Cinema should be aware that the Indian government has recognised the Palestinian state, said the statement.

“Thus, at this moment in our collective human history, for the NFDC and the NMIC to be screening Israeli films is totally immoral, unethical, unconscionable, and a travesty of justice to say the least,” read the statement.

“Thus, at this moment in our collective human history, for the NFDC and the NMIC to be screening Israeli films is totally immoral, unethical, unconscionable, and a travesty of justice to say the least,” it added.

“In both instances the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court have recognised the fact that Israel is guilty of genocide,” it said. “Thus the ICC has announced that it will issue an arrest warrant against Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, who must stand trial for war crimes.”

“In the presence of such damning evidence, the NFDC must immediately cancel the so-called Israel Film Festival,” the statement earlier urged.