John Greyson, a Canadian filmmaker, has withdrawn his documentary, Covered, (PDF, HTML here) from the Toronto International Film Festival because the festival is spotlighting Tel Aviv this year, working closely with the Israeli Foreign Ministry on its Brand Israel campaign, and there are no Palestinian films in the festival. Greyson’s movie, which you can see at vimeo above, is about anti-gay brutality forcing the cancelling of the Sarajevo Queer Festival last year, and he wants no part of a festival that is going to burnish Israel’s image, using Tel Aviv’s cultural scene to cover apartheid. Isn’t that like celebrating Montgomery’s buses in 1963, California grapes in 69, Chilean wine in 1971, Nestle’s infant formula in 84, or South African fruit in ’91?
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