German film festival honors BDS activist

BERLIN (Press Release)– AJC condemned as a blow against artistic freedom the Berlinale decision to award British film director Ken Loach “The Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement Award.” The Berlinale, the second largest film festival in Europe after Cannes, is co-sponsored by the German government.

“It is a disgrace that a prominent German film festival glorifies a director who has distinguished himself through bigotry and the denial of Israel’s right to exist,” said Deidre Berger, director of AJC Berlin.

Loach is a leading figure in the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement that, at its root, seeks Israel’s dismantlement. He has attempted to press a number of film festivals since 2006 to remove from their programs Israeli films. In 2009, he convinced the Edinburgh International Film Festival to return an Israeli government donation that had been made to bring an Israeli director to the event.

“Shame on the Berlinale for honoring an artist who calls for a cultural and economic boycott of Israel, and to do so in a city that once boycotted Jewish shops and property due to anti-Semitic policies of the German government,” said Berger.

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Preceding provided by the American Jewish Committee (AJC)