Jerusalem Film Festival draws 70,000 despite boycott campaign targeting Israeli cinema

The 43rd Jerusalem Film Festival drew an estimated 70,000 attendees from July 9-19, despite a boycott pledge by Film Workers for Palestine. The festival ran its first full cycle under the pledge, which named it among Israeli institutions signatories refuse to work with. Attendees gave mixed reviews, with some noting a thinner international lineup, while the festival's director said more invited guests attended than in previous years.

The 43rd Jerusalem Film Festival (JFF) ran from July 9-19 with an estimated 70,000 total attendees. The festival took place roughly 10 months after the advocacy group Film Workers for Palestine launched a pledge naming the Jerusalem Film Festival directly among Israeli institutions its signatories would refuse to work with. This year marked the first full festival cycle to run under that pledge, which tested whether the boycott would impact who showed up and what films got screened. Attendee Efrat Shvily, a long-time festival-goer, said this year's lineup outperformed the last two, noting the festival was lively and managed to pull films from major international festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, and Venice. In contrast, Yoav Alon, with over a decade of festivals behind him, said the international variety felt thinner than in previous years, citing few English-language films and limited Scandinavian or Greek selections. According to the festival's executive director Roni Mahadav-Levin, fewer invited guests declined to attend this year compared to previous years, and more than two dozen international filmmakers came to serve on juries or present work. The Film Workers for Palestine pledge, launched on September 8, 2025, had over 1,300 signatories including Ava DuVernay, Javier Bardem, and Mark Ruffalo, and over 5,000 signatures by the month's end. The pledge asked participants to refuse work with institutions 'implicated in genocide and apartheid.' Some pushed back, such as Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, who accepted this year's lifetime achievement award at JFF. The Israeli Film and TV Producers Association called the pledge misguided. More than 50 Israeli documentary filmmakers signed an open letter in support of the boycott. Despite the divide, the JFF brought in a variety of genres, with the top prize going to 'Where To?', a drama about a Palestinian cab driver and a young gay Israeli man in Berlin.