The filmed dance creation "RAVE" by choreographer Dor Eldar was set to grace the stage at the British EDIFF festival and was even included in the official lineup. However, the festival's management informed Eldar his participation was cancelled due to external pressures: "We are compelled to boycott anything dealing with global conflicts." Eldar responded to ynet, “Now I understand what antisemitism means.”
(The canceled Israeli dance score)
This brief, yet poignant work, just over two and a half minutes long, offers an artistic interpretation of the events of October 7. EDIFF, the festival in question, sent Eldar a notice about the cancellation after the piece had been accepted and included in its official program.
"The festival has made the difficult decision to remove 'RAVE' from our program. We had to consider our audience and artists, and we are under pressure from the artistic community," Festival organizers wrote. "The subject of the piece is controversial and causes tension, and as a non-political organization, we must be extremely cautious about where we shine our spotlight." "EDIFF does not boycott Israeli films, but we had to make the difficult decision to boycott anything specifically relating to events impacting ongoing conflicts worldwide," the message continued.
"We mist consider our sponsors and funders, as well as the reactions of other filmmakers within the official framework. We recognize the artistic value of the film and its expression of authentic feelings about the terrible event that occurred. This was not an easy decision for the EDIFF committee." "They spoke to me and invited me," Eldar told ynet. "I was in constant contact with them. Then they published the list of works that would be at the festival on their website, and under my work, they wrote 'trigger warning, Israeli-Palestinian conflict,' which is not the purpose of the film at all. It’s a film about the Nova. There are no political symbols there."
As the festival date approached, Eldar received an email from the management announcing the cancellation. "They were pressured by the festival's funders and other artists who watched the film and threatened not to participate if it was screened. Everyone talks about antisemitism in the world, but I never felt it—until this moment. I never felt out of place, no matter where I was in the world, as long as I focused on dance. But here, they made me feel so rejected.
"Now I understand what antisemitism is. If it had been on the other side, a pro-Palestinian film, they would never have canceled it, and I wrote that to them as well." In February, upon the video's release, Eldar expressed to Ynet, "I want to send this to festivals around the world to raise awareness. I see all the 'Free Palestine' among young people worldwide—among LGBT communities, enlightened individuals—and I wonder, 'How can this be?' I don't get it. I want to change it, even by just a tiny bit, to inject something different into our collective consciousness."
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: