IFI drops Israeli embassy as sponsor of film

by Michael Dwyer, Film Correspondent

The Irish Film Institute has cancelled its sponsorship arrangement with
the Israeli embassy in Irelandfor the screening of an Israeli film at the
IFI cinemas in Dublinthis weekend.

The screening of the film, Walk On Water, will go ahead as scheduled
tomorrow evening.

IFI director Mark Mulqueen informed the embassy of the decision on Monday
in a statement which reads: "The decision is taken in light of the current
activities of the Israeli government and prompted by the performance of
your ambassador in explaining these acts to the Irish public. It is
important for us to separate the screening of an Israeli feature film from
activities of the Israeli government. In allowing the screening to go
ahead, this is not an act of artistic censorship, something we would be
loath to do."

In Walk on Water, a Mossad agent is on the trail of an ageing former Nazi
officer. As part of his plan he poses as a tourist guide and sets out to
befriend the man’s gay grandson. The film is being screened at the 14th
Dublin Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, which opens at the IFI tomorrow
night and continues over the bank holiday weekend.

The Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, which takes place
this month, has dropped the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs as one of
its sponsors.

A group of filmmakers in the festival - among them Palestinian directors
Elia Suleiman, Sameh Zoabi, Annemarie Jacir and Lebanese-born Elie Khalife
and Myrna Maakaron - demanded that the festival withdraw the Israeli
ministry from its sponsors.

The filmmakers say that they made the demand "in consideration of the
hundreds of innocent civilians that have been murdered by the state of
Israelin its ongoing campaign".

© The Irish Times