More than 800 film industry professionals in Germany and Austria have signed an open letter against anti-Semitism, and the number of signatories continues to grow.
Signatories include a wide range of directors, writers, producers and other film industry professionals. Among the signatories of the letter are directors carolina linkwhose “Nowhere in Africa” won an Oscar; Stefan Ruzowitzky, whose “The Counterfeiters” also won an Oscar; and Marie Kreuzer, whose “Corsage” won an award at Cannes (all pictured above). Other directors include Julia von Heinz, Kilian Riedhof, Dominik Graf, David Wnendt, Dani Levy and Doris Dörrie.
Other signatories to the letter include European Film Academy director Matthijs Wouter Knol, “Resident Evil” producer Martin Moszkowicz, producers Oliver Berben and Fabian Gasmia, and Jürgen Prochnow, an actor best known for the Oscar-nominated film “ Das Boot.”
The letter was originally published on November 9, the anniversary of Kristallnacht 1938, when Nazis in Germany attacked Jewish people and property. The letter was issued to address the rise in anti-Semitism in Germany since October 7, when Hamas launched terrorist attacks in Israel, followed by ongoing retaliatory actions by Israel against Hamas in Gaza.
The letter reads: “We, the undersigned representatives of German cinema, condemn all forms of anti-Semitism, even when it hides behind the mask of a supposedly emancipatory discourse or appears deliberately vague as ‘anti-imperialism’ and ‘anti-capitalism’. “We unreservedly sympathize with all the Jews of the world who are threatened with death.”
It continues: “We fully support the right of the State of Israel to exist guaranteed by the UN and the right to self-defense, and in this we share the position of all democratic institutions and parties of the Federal Republic of Germany. We unreservedly condemn the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. “Nothing can justify or relativize the pogrom of October 7, 2023.”
“We are united by the pain that Jews can no longer feel safe in Germany either and that anti-Semitic forces are now making themselves heard, endangering Jewish lives and threatening their supporters with inhumane statements, as well as anonymous calls and campaigns “says the letter. Add. “This must not happen anywhere in the world and certainly not in the country of the perpetrators, the country responsible for the Shoah… We will continue to give no space to anti-Semitism – regardless of how it tries to mask itself – in the future.”
The letter can be read in its entirety. here.
