Ken Loach slams Lev Cinemas over profit gesture

British film director Ken Loach responded sharply last week to a statement by Lev Cinemas CEO Nurit Shani, who said that profits from Loach's films in Israel would be dedicated to promoting Israeli films at home and abroad.

Loach is a strong advocate of boycotting Israeli films to protest Israel's policies in the territories.

In his response, published in "Screen Daily," he criticized Shani for political and cultural reasons, and said profits from his films should support artists who back the cultural boycott, "those brave free spirits" who refuse to accept money from the Israeli government.

Shani made her comments before Loach's latest film, "Looking for Eric," was aired at the Haifa Film Festival over Sukkot this month, while describing Loach's energetic efforts to impose a comprehensive boycott on films made in cooperation with Israel or with Israeli government funding.

Loach responded: "Who knows, perhaps some time in the future Shani's vision will help kick-start projects about those courageous Israeli soldiers who formed the group Breaking the Silence and spoke out against the 'reckless and gratuitous use of white phosphorous' in civilian areas in Gaza, and were appalled by the use of Palestinians as human shields?"

His response was also credited to the film's producer Rebecca O'Brien and screenwriter Paul Laverty.

"Perhaps too we will be fortunate to watch films about those young men and women in Israeli prisons who refuse to join the Israeli army because of the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands. And why not include Palestinian film makers or is Israel really an apartheid state?"

Loach also complained that Shani did not have the good manners to inform him that his film would be screened at the Haifa festival, as is accepted practice.

In conclusion, he quoted the Israeli poet, Aharon Shabtai, who said: "I do not believe that a state that maintains an occupation, committing on a daily basis crimes against civilians, deserves to be invited to any kind of cultural (event)."

Loach's other recent actions against Israeli cinema have included his call for a boycott of the Edinburgh international film festival in May, because the Israeli government had paid the travel expenses of Israeli director Tali Shalom Ezer, whose film, "Surrogate," was being shown there.