IDFA Artistic Director Under Fire After Applauding “From the River to the Sea” Opening Night Protest
Orwa Nyrabia, the award-winning documentarian who has served as artistic director of the International Documentary Film Festival since 2018, is facing blistering criticism and calls for his resignation after being captured on video applauding as protesters interrupted the Amsterdam-based fest’s opening night ceremony on Wednesday while holding a banner proclaiming, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free,” a phrase widely understood to be a call for the elimination of the state of Israel.
Sixteen high-profile members of the Israeli film community on Thursday signed a letter addressed to IDFA and the international film industry in which they expressed “uttermost dismay, disappointment and concern” at Nyrabia’s conduct on the biggest night of arguably the largest documentary film festival in the world. “We see this as a personal attack against us,” they declared. “We call on the director of IDFA, and on its board of directors, to clearly and resoundingly distance themselves,...
Sixteen high-profile members of the Israeli film community on Thursday signed a letter addressed to IDFA and the international film industry in which they expressed “uttermost dismay, disappointment and concern” at Nyrabia’s conduct on the biggest night of arguably the largest documentary film festival in the world. “We see this as a personal attack against us,” they declared. “We call on the director of IDFA, and on its board of directors, to clearly and resoundingly distance themselves,...
- 11/10/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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