More than 1,500 professionals, actors, directors, and technicians, announced in September their intention to no longer collaborate with certain Israeli film institutions. The collective Film Workers for Palestine is behind this initiative, calling for a cultural boycott inspired by the one against South Africa during apartheid. In a letter published in The Guardian, the signatories denounced a situation they deemed untenable.
“At this time of crisis when many of our governments allow the carnage in Gaza, we must do everything in our power to respond to this complicity,” among other things, was stated. Personalities who have joined this movement include Charlotte Le Bon, Camélia Jordana, Éric Cantona, Olivia Colman, Tilda Swinton, Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Joshua Oppenheimer, Josh O’Connor, and Javier Bardem. The list continues to grow, driven by a real desire to take a stand. In this context, Penélope Cruz has also chosen to speak out publicly.
Penélope Cruz calls on “each of us” to become aware of the situation
In an interview with El País, the actress shared an intimate word about the responsibility of artists in the face of conflicts. “I will never let anyone silence me when it comes to denouncing the destruction of civilians and children anywhere in the world because for me, a child’s life has the same value everywhere,” she emphasized.
Moved by images from war zones, she then stressed the universality of suffering: “The images we receive of children and civilians in Gaza touch me in the same way as those of all the civilians who died in Israel on October 7th.” “I see these children in Gaza suffering and dying like this, in such agony and horror, and I wonder: how can we see all this and say nothing, write nothing, do nothing? It’s up to each of us,” she concluded gravely.
Javier Bardem, also engaged against war for a long time
An engagement shared within his own home as his husband, Javier Bardem, has also spoken out publicly on several occasions for many years. For example? At the 2026 Oscars ceremony, he appeared with a badge reading “No to war,” recalling a longstanding commitment. “I am wearing a badge that I wore back in 2003, during the Iraq war, which was an illegal war. Today, twenty-three years later, we are faced with another illegal war created by Trump and Netanyahu based on another lie,” he lamented. A part of the international film industry now seems determined to no longer remain silent in the face of conflicts around the world.
