cinema laurel
The Seret International Film Festival, an Israeli film event held in cities around the world, has been shut down by long-time UK partners Picturehouse and Curzon Cinemas due to what organizers described as “safety concerns”. criticized for withdrawing from this year’s event.
The Ceret Film Festival was founded in 2012 by Odelia Haroush, who accused Picturehouse and Curzon of enabling “cancel culture” in an interview with the Times of London.
“Their role is to show cinema and culture, not cancel culture,” Haroush told the newspaper. “Especially now. Don’t cancel Palestinian culture, Russian culture, Ukrainian culture, Israeli culture.”
The Times reported that Picturehouse and Curzon had declined to host the show, citing “safety concerns”. We have reached out to both boutique chains for comment. Neither was able to discuss the issue. Haroush also told the paper that he had been forced to cancel the film festival screening in Cambridge due to the “political atmosphere between the university and students.”
“I’m not going to show a movie that shows everything is blooming and in great shape in Israel. We choose movies based on their artistic value, not their political value. I believe with all my heart,” Haroush told the newspaper, adding that filmmakers “should not be held responsible for what is happening in Israel.”
Ms Harosh said Picturehouse told her in November that it could not hold screenings because cinema owners were “afraid” of staff and visitors. Haroush told the newspaper that Curzon resigned in February following Israeli attacks on food trucks in the Gaza Strip.
The festival has now launched an online crowdfunding campaign to raise financial support for this year’s edition, which will run from May 16th to 23rd. The funding page says: “In recent months, our festival and our partners in the UK and Europe have faced relentless attacks. Anti-Semitic groups have put pressure on cinemas, threatened boycotts and called for the cancellation of the festival. partners have been intimidated by anti-Israel groups, threatened with ongoing demonstrations and boycotts, and forced to withdraw their support.
The page adds that all donations will be used to “fund alternative screening spaces and the highest level of safety precautions.”
There have been constant protests in the UK around Palestinian and Israeli cultural events since October 7, when a Hamas-led attack on Israel killed more than 1,100 people and took 200 hostages. Gaza’s Health Ministry announced last week that at least 32,845 people had been killed during Israeli operations in the area.
Previous films to be screened at Ceret include Nadav Lapid’s The Knees of Ahed, Leon Prudowski’s Adolf, and Sagi Bornstein, Udi Nir and Shani Rosanes’ feature film Golda, etc. The festival will also include screenings in Chile, Germany, the Netherlands and Argentina.
