Filmmakers Withdraw Work After Amsterdam Festival Condemns Pro-Palestine Slogan

At least 12 filmmakers, including India’s Alisha Tejpal, pulled their work out of the IDFA.

Nyrabia said that the slogan was  “a triggering statement and an offensive declaration for many.”

(Photo: X, formerly Twitter)

Over a dozen filmmakers have pulled their films out of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) after the festival’s artistic director Orwa Nyrabia condemned the pro-Palestine slogan – “From the river to the sea” – in a protest on the opening night. 

The call to withdraw work from the festival was made by the Palestine Film Institute (PIF).

The institute, in a statement on 10 November, said:

“With hearts weighed down like the rubble in Gaza, the PFI announces its withdrawal from all organised activities at the IDFA Market. This includes the presentation of three poignant documentary projects capturing the supposed ‘essence’ of the Palestinian experience.”

What Happened?

On the opening night, 9 November, three activists took to the stage and raised pro-Palestine slogans, in light of the war between Israel and Hamas in West Asia.

Following this, Nyrabia said that the slogan was  “a triggering statement and an offensive declaration for many.”

The Filmmakers Who Have Pulled Out

At least 12 filmmakers pulled their work out. Terra Long's film Feet In Water, Head On Fire, which was supposed to screen at the festival, was withdrawn too. In an Instagram post, the makers of the film said:

“Our film is about contested land in what is today called California. We cannot speak about decolonization in one context without addressing the ongoing settler colonial violence in Gaza, the West Bank and within Israel today. We are horrified by the violence of the genocide and the complicity, propaganda and institutional silence in the cultural sector.”

Palestinian filmmaker Basma al-Sharif, who is a festival juror too, pulled out four of her short films, including Deep Sleep, Farther Than The Eye Can See, Story Of Milk and Honey, and Capital.

Iranian filmmaker Maryam Tafakory also pulled her non-fiction short Mast-del out of the festival saying, “To equate decolonization with terrorism is to maintain the colonial narrative."

However, Palestinian director Mohamed Jabaly’s Life Is Beautiful will be screened as per schedule.

What Has IDFA Said?

In a statement released on Sunday, the festival said:

“The last month has seen a huge scale of violence, and a grave humanitarian crisis. Many filmmakers, Palestinians, Israelis, and others, whose work featured at IDFA over the years, showed the world how occupation is the core of this tragedy, and that ending the occupation and respecting all human lives as equal and sacred, are the essential steps. We repeat our call for an immediate ceasefire, and for an opening of borders to allow for desperately needed humanitarian aid to civilian populations.”

The statement went on to add, “We understand that the slogan that is at the heart of the on-going discussion is used by various parties in different ways and is perceived by various people in various manners. We are not ignoring, undermining nor criminalizing any of these positions and we fully respect and acknowledge the pain that is going around and the extreme urgency of these discussions while war is still on, and innocent civilians are still dying.”