MIFF goes politics

MIFF makes headlines: the Chinese are pissed off, because we are showing a documentary about a muslim minority in China and having the film makers as special guests, a director has withdrawn two of his movies because we are showing films that have received funding from the state of Israel...
the first guests are to arrive today and tmr, friday is the big opening night gala!

more infos here:
www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au/

LOOKING FOR ERIC CANCELLED

Posted 17th July, 2009
The Melbourne International Film Festival has been forced to cancel screenings of the film Looking For Eric from this year's festival following director Ken Loach's decision to withdraw the film from the program.

Mr Loach's decision is part of an orchestrated campaign to target events that are in receipt of financial support from the State of Israel. Loach requested that we join the boycott and as an independent arts organisation MIFF has refused. MIFF is extremely disappointed that Mr Loach has taken this stance. MIFF has played every one of his movies at the festival over the years including It's A Free World (sic) in 2008.

The festival has a long tradition of programming films that examine various points of view on the Middle East including the Israel Palestinian question. This year such films include Amreeka - a drama that outlines the difficulties that a contemporary Palestinian family faces adapting to life in the USA: Young Freud In Gaza - the efforts of a young Palestinian psychiatrist to deal with psychological problems faced by Palestinians living under occupation and also forced to deal with internecine Palestinian power struggles.

In 2008 MIFF programmed a small programming stream called Border Patrol showing films that dealt with the Israel Palestinian question - Eran Riklis's award winning The Lemon Tree about a Palestinian woman's fight for justice to stop the Israeli army destroying her lemon grove; The Salt Of The Sea, a Palestinian drama centred around a Palestinian's attempts to reclaim their original home; Waltz With Bashir, a personal autobiographical account of an Israeli soldier and his involvement in one of Israel's entries into Lebanon, ending with footage of the Shabra/Shatilla massacres; and Strangers, a romantic liaison between a Palestinian and an Israeli shot in and around the world cup finals in Germany.

This small sample is illustrative of the festival's wider concern to show films that deal with contemporary political issues and to allow audiences to judge these films on their own merits. MIFF tries to adhere to a policy of open dialogue in our dealings with all agencies, embassies and cultural entities who offer to support MIFF's independent non profit organisation.

MIFF understands that that this issue is a particularly emotional one for people but we will not participate in a boycott against the State of Israel, just as we would not contemplate boycotting films from China or other nations involved in difficult long standing historical disputes.

Richard Moore
Executive Director Melbourne International Film Festival.