Streaming platform Mubi facing pressure from film industry over Israeli military ties

Yahoo

3 days ago

Global streaming platform Mubi is facing backlash over investor ties to Israeli military, with filmmakers calling on the production company and film distributor to end its relatioship with investment firm Sequoia Capital.
The growing pressure aimed at the upstart distributor, which ushered The Substance to awards success last year, centres on a recent $100 million investment it received from the Silicon Valley-based private equity firm.
Sequoia Capital backs a number of Israeli defence-tech start-ups, including Kela Technologies, a firm founded by veterans of the Israeli military in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack, and military drone manufacturer Neros.
Filmmakers with ties to Mubi have signed an open letter, first published by Variety on 30 July. Creatives like Aki Kaurismäki, Miguel Gomes, Radu Jude, Sarah Friedland and Joshua Oppenheimer strongly criticise the VOD platform's ties to Sequoia Capital.
According to Variety, the number of signatories now stands at 63, with additional names including the Israeli directors Ari Folman and Nadav Lapid.
'Mubi's financial growth as a company is now explicitly tied to the genocide in Gaza, which implicates all of us that work with Mubi,' reads the letter.
It continues: 'We too believe that cinema can be powerful. And we know that we can't always control how audiences will respond to our work, and whether or not it will move and inspire them. But we can control how our work reflects our values and commitments – ones that are wholly ignored when our work is brought into alliance with a genocide-profiteering private equity firm.'
Scroll down to read the letter in full.
A UN report has found that Israel's military actions are consistent with genocide. Israel has continually denied that their actions in Palestine can be equated to genocide and argued that it has not partaken in any war crimes. A spokesperson recently called the claims of genocide 'baseless' because it is not acting with 'intent.'
When controversy over the Sequoia Capital investment first broke in June, Mubi said in a statement posted on Instagram that it had entered into the partnership 'to accelerate' its 'mission of delivering bold and visionary films to global audiences'.
It added that Sequoia's investments did '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,' it concluded.
Here is the full statement addressed to Mubi:
Dear Mubi leadership,
We write as filmmakers who have a professional relationship to Mubi to express our serious concern regarding Mubi's decision to accept $100 million in funding from Sequoia Capital, a private equity firm that, since late 2023 has chosen to double down on investing in Israeli military technology companies with the goal of profiting from the Gazan genocide. In 2024, Sequoia heavily invested in Kela, a military tech startup founded by a former senior manager of Palantir Israel and multiple Israeli military intelligence veterans, as well as military drone manufacturer Neros, and the unmanned aerial vehicle manufacture, Mach Industries.
Mubi's financial growth as a company is now explicitly tied to the genocide in Gaza, which implicates all of us that work with Mubi. We too believe that cinema can be powerful. And we know that we can't always control how audiences will respond to our work, and whether or not it will move and inspire them. But we can control how our work reflects our values and commitments—ones that are wholly ignored when our work is brought into alliance with a genocide-profiteering private equity firm.
Gaza is enduring mass civilian killings, including of journalists, artists, and film workers, alongside the widespread destruction of Palestinian cultural sites and heritage. 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.
We approach our work with care for the people and communities they represent, and the audiences who will watch it, because as artists we are accountable to more than the bottom line. Yet Mubi's decision to partner with Sequoia demonstrates a total lack of accountability to the artists and communities who have helped the company flourish. We believe that it is our ethical duty to do no harm. We expect our partners, at a minimum, to refuse to be complicit in the horrific violence being waged against Palestinians.
We ask you to heed the call made by Film Workers for Palestine and take action that meaningfully responds to the artists and the audiences who are such an integral part of Mubi's success.
Mubi has yet to respond publicly to the letter.