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Filmmakers Urge Distributor, Streamer to Condemn Investor Tied to Israeli Military
Director Joshua Oppenheimer at the MUBI Preview Screening for his feature film “The End” on the occasion of the 75th Berlinale at the Astor Filmlounge on 2/16/2025 in Berlin. Photo: IMAGO/Eventpress via Reuters Connect
More than 40 filmmakers signed a letter on Monday urging the distributor, production company, and streaming platform Mubi to condemn a new investor and rethink its working relationship with the latter because of its ties to the Israeli military.
Mubi, which streams films such as “The Substance,” announced in late May that it secured $100 million in funding from Sequoia Capital. The Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm has provided backing for the military defense technology startup Kela, founded in July 2024 by four veterans of Israeli military intelligence. According to an article published by Sequoia in March, Kela’s first focus is border protection, in response to the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but “in the long term, the ambition is to convert Israel into a defense tech hub for Western militaries — a source of strategic advantage for NATO and the US as they seek to deter their adversaries.”
The filmmakers who signed the letter written by Film Workers for Palestine – an international collective representing more than 9,000 creatives – claimed that Mubi’s financial success “is now explicitly tied to the genocide in Gaza, which implicates all of us that work with Mubi.”
“We don’t believe an arthouse film platform can meaningfully support a global community of cinephiles while also partnering with a company invested in murdering Palestinian artists and filmmakers,” added the group of filmmakers, which include Joshua Oppenheimer, Radu Jude, Aki Kaurismäki, and Miguel Gomes. “We expect our partners, at a minimum, to refuse to be complicit in the horrific violence being waged against Palestinians,” they further stated.
The Algemeiner obtained a copy of the letter.
The filmmakers asked Mubi to adhere to calls made by Film Workers for Palestine, which demanded that the streaming platform publicly condemn Sequoia Capital “for genocide profiteering”; remove Sequoia partner Andrew Reed from Mubi’s board of directors; include a new Mubi “ethical policy” for all future company investments; and adhere to the guidelines of two anti-Israel initiatives – the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).
Film Workers for Palestine told The Algemeiner on Thursday more filmmakers have signed the letter since its publication, including Todd Chandler, Silvan Zürcher, Dominga Sotomayor, Robert Colom-Vargas, Kathryn Hamilton, and Ramon Zürcher.
Mubi did not respond to The Algemeiner‘s request for comment about the letter. The company said in a released statement in June that it decided to seek investment from Sequoia Capital to “accelerate our mission of delivering bold and visionary films to global audiences.” It added that the venture capital firm has a “50-plus year history of partnering with founders to help turn their ideas into world-changing businesses.”
“We chose to work with Sequoia because the firm, and our Sequoia Partner Andrew Reed, support MUBI’s mission and want to help us scale and bring great cinema to even more people around the world,” Mubi explained. “Over the last several days, some members of our community have commented on the decision to work with Sequoia given their investment in Israeli companies and the personal opinions expressed by one of their partners. The beliefs of individual investors do not reflect the views of MUBI. We take the feedback from our community very seriously, and are steadfast in remaining an independent founder-led company.”
Multiple Mubi programming partners as well as venues collaborating with Mubi Fest – an annual, worldwide film festival – ended partnerships with the company because of its ties to Sequoia Capital. Those that have decided to withdraw their partnerships with Mubi include ‘Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), Mexico City’s Cineteca Nacional, the Cinemateca de Bogota, and Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF).
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.