An Israeli choreographer has spoken of his “great shock” and “disappointment” after an international dance film festival backtracked on its decision to show his film honouring the victims of the Nova music festival.
Exeter International Dance Film Festival initially accepted Dor Eldar’s short film and invited him to come to come in person.
He told Jewish News that he had felt “I had to do something” after 7 October. “I wanted to create something, it was the only thing on my mind.” He emphasised: “I am not a political person, I only wanted to refer to this specific, terrible event.”
His two-and-a-half-minute film, Rave, features a group of young dancers, all of whom volunteered to take part. “I did not make this film for Israelis,” Eldar said. “I wanted to have something that the world would see, that was my aim.”
The dancer turned choreographer began sending the film to various festivals and it received a good reception, most recently in Lisbon. The film opens with young men hoisting two young women into the back of a truck, mimicking the kidnappings that took place on 7 October.
Eldar said that after he had submitted the film to Exeter, about a month before the two-day festival opened on 19 October, organisers had invited him to come in person.
He was unable to attend but noted that when the festival programme was published, organisers had issued an “alert” note next to a description of Rave, saying the film was about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Choreographer Dor Eldar: ‘I feel if this piece had come from the Palestinian side it would have been accepted with open arms.’
“It’s not true,” Eldar said, “but I didn’t say anything. It’s their festival. And then, two weeks before the festival opened they sent me an email saying they weren’t going to show my film at all.”
In their rejection email, the Exeter organisers told Eldar that the festival’s selection and programming committee had “come to the difficult decision to pull Rave from our programme. We have had to consider our audience attendees and artists, and are receiving pressure from the artistic community. The subject matter is controversial and contentious, and as a non-political organisation we have to be extremely careful about what we put the spotlight on.”
The Exeter organisers added that the festival “doesn’t boycott Israeli films”, but that they had had to make the “difficult decision to boycott anything specifically commenting on events that have had an impact on ongoing conflicts around the world”. They said that they were receiving “backlash” from funders and sponsors, but noted that “we recognise the artistic merit of the film and that it is expressing genuine emotions about the terrible event that happened”.
Eldar replied by reiterating that the film, which is available to watch online, was not political but was intended to represent the grief and anguish about the “terrible and traumatic” murders. He added: “I feel if this piece had come from the Palestinian side it would have been accepted with open arms.” He did not receive a further reply from the Exeter festival.
He told Jewish News: “The rejection came as a great shock to me and I had to realise it was because I am from Israel. What I love about dance is that there is no language and you can express whatever you want. I thought that with Rave it would be understood – but it seems that I am wrong.”
The Exeter festival has been contacted for comment.
