Equality, antiracism, and basic human rights have always been bedrocks of the values that guide Screen Slate’s conduct as an organization.
Accordingly, Screen Slate expresses its solidarity with the Palestinian people and their resistance to genocide and settler colonialism by formalizing its ongoing alignment with the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a founding member of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
In our organizational and individual capacities as representatives of arts and culture, Screen Slate commits to not crossing the international picket line for Palestine. Specifically we will continue to:
- Support Palestinian filmmakers and visual artists whose work speaks against Israel's settler-colonial regime of apartheid and military occupation;
- Boycott any cultural product that is commissioned by an official Israeli body, funded by an official Israeli body where political strings are attached, funded by private Israeli funds that are complicit in Israel’s regime of oppression, or created by complicit companies/institutions (eg film production companies);
- Boycott any cultural event that is partially or fully sponsored or funded by an official Israeli body or complicit institution;
- Refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration, or joint projects with complicit Israeli institutions;
- Refrain from participating in any project that seeks to “normalize” Israel's oppression against Palestinians and/or the dehumanization of Palestinians, in line with BDS anti-normalization guidelines.
Some examples of the practices that we will continue to follow include:
- Abstaining from publishing listings and coverage of films, festivals, series, exhibitions, talks, or events that are sponsored by an official Israeli body or complicit institution, or which seek to “normalize” Israel's occupation of Palestinian land and system of apartheid;
- Abstaining from publishing listings and coverage of venues whose core programs are fully or partially sponsored by an official Israeli body or complicit institution or that consistently seek to advance “normalization” efforts;
- Rejecting paid sponsorship opportunities related to any of the above;
- Making our best efforts to discern films, events, etc., that fall into this rubric, in line with BDS guidelines.
Screen Slate will continue to list and feature cultural products or events by Israeli artists that are not linked to official Israeli bodies or complicit institutions. We affirm our opposition to all forms of discrimination, including anti-Black racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia.
We encourage all film organizations, cinema workers, media artists, and filmmakers to take action now. If you too are considering endorsing PACBI's call or have questions about how to get organized, please reach out.
More information at https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi.
