Some of the U.K.’s most prominent studios and screen organizations have been sent a legal warning over an industry boycott of Israeli film institutions.
The letter from U.K. Lawyers for Israel states that the boycott, which has been backed by Hollywood stars including Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Olivia Colman and Mark Ruffalo, is a breach of the U.K.’s Equality Act and may also have a knock-on impact on financing and insurance.
The U.K. outposts of Netflix, Disney, Amazon Studios, Apple and Warner Bros. Discovery are among those who have been sent the letter as well as domestic companies including the BBC, Film4 and ITV. Other recipients include film organizations such as the BFI and Pact, agencies Curtis Brown and United Agents and unions including Bectu and Equity.
“[The Equality Act 2010] is the key legislation in the U.K. protecting against racism and discriminatory treatment,” states the letter, which has been seen by Variety. “If the U.K. television and film industry colludes with acts contrary to this legislation, organizations are themselves likely to be in breach. It also creates a dangerous precedent: one that condones the exclusion of individuals and/or organizations based solely on their nationality, ethnicity, and/or religion.”
The letter also claims that the boycott’s attempt at “selective application — exempting some institutions based on the ethnicity or religion of their members — strongly indicates that [its] operation is based not only on nationality but also on religion and ethnicity.” According to Film Workers for Palestine, which organized the boycott, it does not apply to Palestinian Israelis, for whom there are different “context sensitive guidelines.”
Although the boycott claims only to target Israeli-linked film institutions and not individuals, the Equality Act protects organizations as well as people. This is likely to be particularly relevant in the screen industry, where many actors and producers contract their services through companies.
Studios could potentially be liable for any breaches of the Equality Act carried out by their “staff and agents,” according to the letter. Actors, producers, agents, managers, production companies, producers and “anyone else who instructs, causes, induces, or helps to implement the Boycott– for example, encouraging a distributor not to deal with Israeli outlets, or advising a colleague to insist on a Boycott clause” could also incur liability.
The letter goes on to state that deliberate attempts to breach the Equality Act are “highly likely to be a litigation risk and a notifiable event” for the purposes of insurance and may even invalidate insurance policies.
There is also a potential knock-on effect on funding, with most funding bodies such as the BFI requiring productions to be compliant with the Equality Act.
“It follows that a breach of the [Act] through the Boycott, would render a film ineligible for government funding, or trigger clawback of finance already granted,” the letter warns.
More than 4,000 film industry names have signed the boycott including Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Adam McKay, Boots Riley, Emma Seligman, Joshua Oppenheimer and Mike Leigh. They have pledged “not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions — including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.” In an asterisk, the letter clarifies that “implicated” is defined as “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government committing them.”
Last month, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law of Washington D.C. sent out a letter to U.S. companies stating that the boycott infringes U.S. Federal and State laws. “Numerous federal and state civil rights laws plainly prohibit applying the Hollywood Blacklist [Boycott] against Israeli, and specifically Jewish Israeli, individuals and organizations based or operating in the U.S., and offer victims a mechanism for holding accountable those organizations and individuals responsible for violating their rights,” the Brandeis Centre letter warns. “To be clear: these laws apply to you, and not only to those direct signatories who would unlawfully aid, abet, and incite you to apply the Hollywood Blacklist.”
