Spanish film Tralovento will not take part in the Mar del Plata International Film Festival after director Eloy Domínguez Serén and producer Felipe Lage Coro asked for its withdrawal. They object to the festival’s section devoted to contemporary Israeli cinema and its institutional collaboration with the Israeli Embassy in Argentina.
In a statement, the filmmakers said they were unaware of these arrangements when they accepted the invitation. After learning about them, they described the decisions as “unacceptable” in the current international context, which they said includes systematic human rights violations, a genocide in Gaza and ongoing attacks in Lebanon and the West Bank.
Domínguez Serén and Lage Coro stressed that their position is not a rejection of Israeli filmmakers or their work. They said they do not know the filmmakers’ political views and support their right to create and express themselves freely. Their objection, they explained, is to what they consider institutional and financial backing for these productions from the Israeli state. “We reject the funding and support these productions receive from a genocidal state,” they wrote.
The filmmakers thanked the festival for its initial interest in the film and said they regretted being unable to present it to Argentine audiences, whom they described as deserving of their “great respect and admiration.” Their statement expressed solidarity with Palestinians and the people of Lebanon, concluding: “Our hearts are with the Palestinian and Lebanese people.”
Sources: elDiario.es.