Funding 2012 The Israeli Film Council threatened to withdraw funding for the festival; however it did not cancel the funding.
Calls for boycott 2017 A number of scheduled speakers canceled their attendance at the event in response to pressure from the
BDS movement. The speakers who withdrew their participation are South African director
John Trengrove, Canadian author and screenwriter of Pakistani descent
Fawzia Mirza, Palestinian
Nadia Ibrahim, who was supposed to sit in a jury panel, and Swiss
Jasna Fritzi Bauer, though only Trengrove, Mirza and Ibrahim cited the
BDS movement.
Jasna Fritzi Bauer and
Helene Hegemann claimed schedule clashes as a reason for cancellation. Despite speakers withdrawal, there were not changes in the screen program and the films of those who cancelled their participation were shown during the festival.
John Trengrove cancelled his participation after he arrived to Israel on festival dime. Palestinian Israeli actress
Samira Saraya and filmmaker
Maysaloun Hamoud participated in the festival.
2020 More than 100 filmmakers from 15 countries signed a petition launched by the
Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel calling for a boycott of the festival out of solidarity with the struggle by the Palestinian queer community. Among the signatories are filmmakers
Charlotte Prodger,
Alain Guiraudie,
Thomas Allen Harris,
Harjant Gill,
Ian Iqbal Rashid,
Sarah Schulman,
John Greyson,
Adrian Stimson,
Richard Fung,
Catherine Gund and
Raquel Freire, as well as film scholars
Alexandra Juhasz,
Thomas Waugh,
Marc Siegel,
Shohini Ghosh and
Chris Berry.
2021 In October 2021, over 200 celebrities, including
Mila Kunis,
Billy Porter,
Neil Patrick Harris,
Helen Mirren,
Lance Bass and
Jeremy Piven, signed an open letter rejecting calls for a boycott of the
Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival. ==References==