Hazel Lair, Contributing Writer
Richmond for Palestine called for a boycott of the Richmond International Film Festival on Sept. 3, in response to controversial film screenings, collaboration with the Israeli Embassy and comments from Heather Waters, the festival’s founder and producer.
Richmond for Palestine is a coalition of organizations that work toward the shared goal of supporting Palestine. In an open letter to RIFF, posted on Instagram, the group explained their motivations for calling the boycott.
“For the last three years, Palestinians and Lebanese have suffered greatly under the genocidal violence of the Israeli state,” the letter stated. “For more than a century, Palestinians have been subjected to occupation and displacement at the hands of Israel … We have a moral obligation to support the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation. To that end, it’s imperative that we boycott Israeli cultural institutions, as well as cultural institutions that support and normalize the Israeli state.”
The letter mentioned Waters’ recent trips to Israel and her belief that it is not committing genocide, according to Style Weekly.
“It is clear that Heather Waters and RIFF endorse the dehumanization of marginalized groups worldwide,” the letter stated.
One of the boycott’s demands is for RIFF to end its collaboration with the Israeli Embassy, according to Danielle DiBlasio, a member of Richmond for Palestine.
“Aligning with the Israeli Embassy is an endorsement of Israel’s genocide,” DiBlasio said. “Palestinians are being killed in Gaza and the West Bank every day. Israel is carrying out massacres in Southern Lebanon regularly. By giving the Israeli state free marketing through their sponsorship, RIFF is supporting this violence.”
DiBlasio said that the festival’s film choices, public statements by the festival’s founder and her handling of criticisms made it difficult to imagine supporting RIFF in the future
DiBlasio hopes that Waters and RIFF will see how many people in the community stand against the festival’s platforming of genocide. She hopes the boycott will reach filmmakers and change their views of their involvement with RIFF in the future.
Waters said that excluding certain filmmakers based on the country they are from or their government’s decision is against the festival’s moral obligation to avoid censorship. She said that pulling films due to “geopolitical conflicts” silences independent artists who may denounce the structures that people are protesting
“We continue to welcome open dialogue among all people and perspectives and often the best place to have those complex conversations is within the arts and cinema,” Waters said, “Boycotts do the opposite – they seek to close doors and end conversations, whereas film festivals open doors and start them. If anyone wants to understand RIFF’s position, it is perhaps most important to understand that one point.”
Waters said RIFF emphasizes that cultural exchange requires people to engage in stories that represent complexities of the human experience.
Filmmaker Dima Hamdan, who produced the film “Blood Like Water,” pulled out of the festival in past years. Waters said that this had little effect on the festival’s success.
“I think this is largely in part to us standing firm on our founding principles,” Waters said. “In the long run, standing by these principles only strengthens RIFF’s reputation as a reliable, independent haven for international artists.”