Seret International, an Israeli film festival scheduled to be held in Barcelona this week, has switched its projections to a clandestine location after the planned theatres, those of Cinemes Girona, cancelled their participation at the last minute, due to "threats from anti-Israeli organizations", as the festival reported. In conversation with ElNacional.cat, the Seret festival explained that they have already found a new place to screen the films in the Catalan capital, but will not make it public in order to avoid a repeat of the situation experienced with Cinemes Girona. "We have sold out all tickets, and everyone who has a ticket will be sent the location of the festival privately," explained a spokesperson for the event.
Cinemes Girona in Barcelona announced this Wednesday, just 24 hours before the start of the festival, that they were cancelling the screening of four films scheduled between this Thursday and Sunday. When asked about the reasons behind the sudden move, they avoided giving details, pointing out that "the situation is delicate". "We don't want to add anything, nor can we," they said, while asking for "understanding" for this position. Shortly afterwards, the Seret festival released a statement in which it denounced "threats from anti-Israel organizations that cannot accept the fact that artistic freedom is more important than politics." On the other hand, Catalan groups supporting solidarity with Palestine have described the move by Cinemes Girona as "courageous".
Cinemes Girona receive "threats from pro-Palestinian organizations"
In statements to this newspaper, sources from the festival specified that the manager of Cinemes Girona has repeatedly suffered "threats from three pro-Palestinian organizations" via email and in person. "They told him that if he didn't cancel the festival, they would organize a social media campaign against the theatres, so that no one would ever go there again," explained a spokeswoman for the festival.
From Seret, they have expressed understanding for the decision taken by Cinemes Girona. "We understand that they have found themselves in a situation where they fear for the future of their theatres", said festival sources, while recognizing that the operation of the theatres also means giving work to several people. From the festival, however, they acknowledge that up till now they have not encountered a problem like this in other locations where this travelling cinema event is held, although they add that this is their first festival that is held in the context of the war in Gaza, which began on October 7th last year.
Seret International will therefore be held in Barcelona - at a secret location - between Thursday and Sunday. Scheduled screenings include Erez Tadmor's Matchmaking; Hummus full trailer, by Asaf Kobrovsky; Karaoke, by Moshe Rosenthal, and Seven blessings, by Ayelet Menachemi. Since its origins in Britain, Seret has turned into a travelling festival, with sessions this years to be held in Holland in March, in the United Kingdom in May, in Germany in September, and in Argentina and Chile also in November.
Pro-Palestine groups celebrate change of venue
The Palestinian Community of Catalonia and the Prou Complicitat amb Israel coalition have this Wednesday celebrated that Cinemes Girona have cancelled their participation in the Seret festival. In a post on social media, they stated that with this "courageous decision", these cinemas "join the global call for solidarity with Palestine" and that they are "taking a step forward" to "not be accomplices of a State accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice". "A small (great) cinema stands up to genocide with the dignity that the institutions lack", celebrated Prou Complictat, organizer of the multiple demonstrations held in Barcelona in favour of the Palestinian people and against the war in Gaza .