Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid has withdrawn from the jury of France's FIDMarseille International Film Festival after a campaign by pro-Palestinian filmmakers called for a boycott of his participation.
The controversy emerged ahead of the festival's July 2026 edition. A group of filmmakers and artists argued that Israeli cultural figures should not be given institutional platforms while Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza. Some filmmakers reportedly threatened to withdraw their works from the festival if Lapid remained on the jury. Following the campaign, Lapid chose to step down from the event.
In a statement, FIDMarseille defended its invitation, arguing that it was illegitimate to hold an individual filmmaker responsible for the policies of his government. The festival described Lapid as a filmmaker whose work has often critically examined Israeli society and state violence.
The boycott campaign triggered a counter-response from prominent international film figures. Filmmakers including Justine Triet, Jacques Audiard, Natalie Portman, Claire Denis and Apichatpong Weerasethakul signed open letters opposing the boycott. One letter argued that inviting an artist to a festival does not make them a cultural ambassador for their state, while another warned against the exclusion of artists from public cultural life.
Lapid is no stranger to controversy in India. In 2022, while serving as jury chair of the International Competition section at the International Film Festival of India in Goa, he sharply criticised Vivek Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files during the festival's closing ceremony. Lapid described the film as "propaganda" and "vulgar", saying he was "shocked" and "disturbed" by its inclusion in the competition. His remarks sparked a political and cultural controversy in India, drawing criticism from government representatives and supporters of the film, while several of his fellow international jurors later expressed support for his assessment.
Speaking after the Goa controversy, Lapid clarified that his criticism was directed at the film's artistic and cinematic approach rather than the historical tragedy of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus. He argued that the subject deserved a more complex and nuanced treatment.
The Marseille episode places Lapid at the centre of another debate about the relationship between artists, national identity and political accountability. While supporters argue that filmmakers should be judged by their work and public positions rather than their nationality, advocates of the boycott maintain that cultural institutions cannot be separated from broader political realities.
