i just want to thank you for making this extraordinary short. For all that it does in paying tribute to these brave organizers, in exposing the absurd the hypocritical violence of so many, for reminding us of Sontag's enduring powers of enlightenment, and for the intelligence, emotion (never manipulative), sensibility and beauty that permeates this film. But more importantly for pulling it out of TIFF, showing it here and reminding all that apartheid whether in SA in the 80's or in Israel today, that war crimes, either in Bosnia or in occupied Palestine suffer no exemption, no justification. The last time I saw a movie of yours was Proteus at the HKGLTFF, and again I was moved by the directness, the lack of compromise and yet lyrical beauty of the film. So thank you for making this, than you for sharing this and as a Canadian in exile, thank you for the spirited barb at our own petty Canadian regime!

Regards,
Sylla Cousineau

Although it is too bad audience at TIFF won't see this, I completely agree with your choice to pull this film. It is upsetting that that Canadian government only reacts to injustice when the spotlight is turned on them. Thanks for making a point and making an insight into festival programming ethics. I enjoyed your short very much and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

Reel Pride 2009, Winnipeg's GLBTT* Film Festival board member.

beautiful film and so brave for pulling it. thank you....

What a rambling mess. What a feeble and blatant attempt at self-promotion. What a misappropriation of international politics for self-recognition. How the filmmaker presumes boycotting his short film from TIFF will make a positive impact on Middle East politics is perhaps the most presumptuous, incoherent thought every put to paper. For shame. Other than raising my eyebrow, this will achieve nothing (and rightly so). What a waste.

thanks for this act of coherence and shame on TIFF for being so shallow and business-driven. this might be a "drop in the ocean" but it is one of the many drops in the ocean to raise awareness about the unjust treatment of the people of Palestine

John, you should show your film at TPFF! vimeo.com/6329552

Unsettling and a grim reminder how vulnerable we still are.

Your withdrawal from TIFF did several things for me. It introduced you to me. I'd never heard of you before. It puzzled me after seeing your video presentation. One can't call it a film. I wondered how you make a living and where on earth you would get the funds to produce such a jumbled, pretentious mess. Also it brought to my attention the name of Tyler Levine, the only commenter who made intelligent sense here. You and I, however, do seem to have something in common, if for different reasons. We are both ticked off with Israel. My reason is different, though. I can't forgive them for not finishing the job in Gaza. I saw no Israelis dancing in the streets after we lost 3,000 people on 9/11 but I saw a lot of Palestinians dancing and cheering. As a non-Muslim and as a homosexual, you seem very confused about who you pick for friends and enemies. Go live among Muslims and bequeath your head to someone you love because they'll chop it off.

Dear Mr. Greyson,

1) Your film is not a coherent piece of storytelling. Presumably it was invited to the festival in the first place due to your relationship with the festival heads.

2) One aspect of what you attempt to illuminate in your film is important: The violence against that festival in Sarajevo. What I learned from your piece of filmmaking here I could have learned reading one paragraph in 20 seconds. Where is your art here, as a filmmaker? Why are you telling us this story, rather than showing it? (One of the cardinal rules of screenplays and filmmaking is SHOW US, don't tell us.) And what is this voiceover of someone teaching another words in presumably the Bosnian language? To hit us over the head with the written narration you want us to read? Pointless. No connection to the story you're attempting to tell. Just let us read the narration.

3) What is the point with famous musicians in this story, doing covers of songs? How does this relate or connect in any way with the violence to shut the festival down?

I do not know you. I've never seen any of your work before. And this is the first time in my life, in my career, that I have ever written non-praiseworthy comments about another filmmaker. If I don't like someone's feature or short, I keep the comments to myself or among conversation with friends.

Because of the quality of your film (or my perceived lack of), this pulling your film from Toronto strikes me as a publicity stunt. Sure, some can say you don't do this kind of stuff, because you don't care about Hollywood. But you do care about publicity, I'm sure. We both know the power of this, and what it can do for one's career. This appears to be no more than a publicity stunt.

And this is disconcerting to me. Using the complicated politics of the Middle East to promote yourself is, in my view, dishonest, disingenuous, and opportunistic.

I am an American Jew. I do not claim to know all the intricacies of all the issues between Israelis and Palestinians. But I have been following the issues since the first Palestinian intifada in 1987.

While I have never personally approved of the way the Israeli government handled that, or the second intifada, one MUST have perspective on the entirety of the issues in that region, and NOT pull aspects out of the larger issue to look at them individually and out of context. I believe most Jews, as myself, do not want to ever see an Israeli soldier killing anyone. But I also don't want to see terrorists blowing innocent people up in Tel Aviv clubs and hotels, or see Hamas firing rockets into Israel killing children.

So let's cut to the chase here, because I (or anyone) could write about all the back & forth between the two sides ad nauseam, and who's to blame or who first started "the latest round."

The Arab world, particularly the Arab nations that attempted to destroy Israel and wipe Israel off the map in 1967 and 1973, hold much responsibility in there being no peace in the Middle East. Anyone who truly understands the issues there -- TRULY UNDERSTANDS -- knows that for a lasting peace to take effect, it will require the real participation and backing of these Arab nations.

What does this mean? For one, they stop funding the Palestinians' various military wings (and past and current terrorist activities) and they come to the bargaining table in sincerity. What many people not educated on these regional issues don't realize, is that it serves some of these Arab nations' OWN politics to maintain Israel as the pariah. As long as Israel is hated and despised, it focuses attention away from some of these corrupt Arab governments. (The leaders of these governments are not stupid.)

It is not in their best interests, in their minds, to have a "global" peace with Israel. Egypt became the exception in the late '70s due to the foresight and forward thinking of that nation's leader then, and Jordan in the '90s as well. But this is not the norm. You have textbooks -- TEXTBOOKS -- in some of these Arab nations that schoolchildren read, that teach hatred of the Jews and Israel.

Propaganda? Damn right it is. The leaders of some of these nations do not want their citizens blaming them for their social ills, or high unemployment, or -- God forbid -- the reason there is no peace in that region. Blame the Jews. It's easy and convenient. And of course, historical.

I apologize for my bluntness here, but people like you, Mr. Greyson, do not truly understand ALL the issues at play. The regional issues and the geopolitical issues. You glom onto pieces of the debate, and believe you understand everything.

If there is ever going to be peace in the Middle East, it will NOT take leaders, but statesmen. It will take all the Arab nations, and Israel, and the U.S., to come together to hammer out something everyone can live with. It will take the Arab Nations forcing the Palestinians to accept compromises that the Palestinians don't want to accept, and it will take the U.S. forcing Israel to accept compromises that Israel does not want to accept.

One thing most people forget, is that Israel is a democracy. The leader that gets elected is either a "conservative" or "liberal," and very contingent upon the mood of that nation at the time of election. (Just like the U.S.) Unfortunately, this affects their policies and engagement of the peace process. When there are terrorist attacks in Israel, the people there want revenge, not peace. (Just like here in the U.S. with 9/11.) Unfortunately, the human element of feeling injustice and wanting revenge cannot be removed from the human psyche. Awareness of this psychology, however, can sometimes help. But I digress.

You think that Israel engaging in some governmental propaganda, to try to change some of the world's low opinions of it, is wrong. And thus, you pull your film and assert you're making a statement. And yet, by doing so, you are asserting that Israel IS in the wrong here, and that they should be "punished" in some way. Forget about the latest round of Hamas rockets being fired into Israel last year, forget about the Palestinian leaders (Yasser Arafat, for one) in the past refusing to make peace with Israel when Israel had leaders who tried, and forget about discussing the Arab Nations' leaders and their lack of real participation.

Just blame Israel.

This is short-sighted of you, and shows you have a real lack of comprehension of the all the issues at hand.

This is beside the point, but if Israel wants to engage in some propaganda around the world, why shouldn't they? The Palestinians do it. And when looking at the entire history of U.N. resolution votes (and Security Council votes) since the birth of Israel, you have nearly every nation in the world voting AGAINST Israel the majority of the time. Except for the U.S. This speaks volumes about the world's prejudices still existing today. Volumes.

Pulling your film from TIFF for publicity purposes? That's your choice as a filmmaker and as a person. Pulling it under the guise of bringing light to your judgement that the TIFF is wrong in showcases Israeli films? Naive, uneducated, and opportunistic.

Jerome Courshon
Producer/Writer
Los Angeles, CA

How much money did the Canadian taxpayer contribute to make this piece of drek?

Mr. Greyson--If you don't support Canadian foreign policy, why don't you protest by refusing to take Canadian taxpayer money to make your movies. Maybe you can find a benefactor in Saudi Arabia. And don't forget to tell him that you want to make a gay film.

Besides the fact I think the film is haunting, beautiful and relevant--I think the decision to pull out of TIFF is fair. Not so much because the answers to the conflict in Palestine/Israel are clear cut--as far as I can discern, they are not. But because TIFF's branding of the Tel Aviv festival program appears to avoid these complexities. I can't fairly condemn the TIFF program, because I haven't seen the films in the line-up. Maybe the words used in the film catalog were badly chosen, and not reflective of the content of the films, which may indeed touch upon the complexities of the region. (One would hope so!) But it's fair for a filmmaker, who has made a political film in and of itself, to act on his conscience and withdraw the film and point out why (otherwise, why are we making films if we are not trying to reach out to people and say something).

In the end, the importance of Greyson's short is vastly overshadowed by this controversy, as the film actually deals with anti-gay violence. Something very real. Something much closer to my realm of understanding, and frankly, much more clearly cut. It is a film about lack of tolerance, and indeed a desire to destroy a people, and as such, I can understand why it might be hypocritical to make such a film and then refuse to stand by one's other convictions.

I, for one, couldn't help being moved and captivated by Greyson's latest short. And I admire anyone willing to speak out for the oppressed (and in my mind this includes Jews, Gays and Palestinians), no matter what side of the political line they may stand on.

Thank you for posting this great work. I had the pleasure of watching Fig Trees at the Castro Theatre during the SF Int'l. LGBT Film Festival, and I'm floored by your commitment to exploring political complexities with vision and a sense of humor.

I also want to thank you for your commitment to honoring the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against apartheid Israel, including the cultural boycott. It's difficult to stand up not only to the status-quo, but to false claims of antisemitism made so common by zionists. I'm glad to see artists stand in solidarity with resistance to ongoing colonization and occupation.

Thank you for posting this ........ great !!!!!

This says it all:

"Israel is a wonderful place to live and we are happy to be there. Israel is a free and open country. If I were given the choice, I would rather live in Israel as a second class citizen than as a first class citizen in Cairo, Gaza, Amman or Ramallah."

--Khaled Abu Toameh. Israeli Arab journalist; documentary filmmaker; West Bank and Gaza correspondent for U.S. News and World Report and the Jerusalem Post; Palestinian affairs producer for NBC News since 1988; and former journalist for the PLO until he saw how much "freedom" of the press they allowed! For more, see hudsonny.org/2009/05/islam-today-1.php

I applaud you for your courage! There are cowards that will always try to twist facts around in Israel's favour and then there are brave individuals like yourself that take a stance against history's largest and most vile propaganda machine.

Excellent Documentary! This short film and the filmmaker, in a way teaches me not to be afraid of my thoughs and to speak even if I'm about to loose everything. Courage over money... Thank you

Look at

jewlicious.com/2009/08/what-if-you-wrote-a-smug-boycott-letter-with-plenty-of-omissions-a-response-to-john-greyson/

for a more balanced picture than you'll find in the monomania of screeds like those emanating from Mr. Greyson and the "Israel is the cause of all the world's troubles" camp.

Let's see how far Mr. Greyson gets trying to show his films in Ramallah, Gaza City, Damascus, Tehran, Islamabad, Kabul, Jakarta, Kuala Lampur, Baghdad, Riyad, and other such bastions of tolerance! It is no surprise that a gay film fest was received with such outright hatred and brutal violence. This is exactly what you can expect in most, if not all, Islamic or Moslem-dominated areas. Israel is the only country in the Middle East that has gay rights--to even a greater extent than the US--and ironically (only because of this one-sided, hypocritical boycott), the only place in the Middle East where Mr. Greyson could screen films like his and not be torn to bits or worse. When one singles out the only country in the world that is a _Jewish_ state while ignoring both the complexity of the situation and the far greater evils committed by Arabs and Moslems and many other regimes in the world, no matter how hard you try to disguise it, it is blatant, unbridled, barely veiled antisemitism aka Judeophobia.

Thanks, John, for this short reminder of the Canadian government's failure to defend gay rights. And thanks for drawing attention to the lack of diversity in Tel Aviv. If Michel is so concerned about homophobia in the Arab world, he needs to recall the August shootings at a Tel Aviv gay centre. Supporters of Israel also need to admit that rights for sexual minorities, like most other rights, only extend to Jews. These remarks are not anti-semitic; they simply point out the facts on the ground, enforced by bullets. John, I hope you will return to TIFF, and I hope your film will be shown at the Vancouver festival.

Ian, have you ever been to Tel Aviv, or are you just following the party line espoused by Mr. Greyson and the gaggle of Israel haters? The city is far more diverse than any under Arab or Moslem control. The incident in the Tel Aviv nightclub was a sad and rare aberration. It doesn't begin to compare to the constant honor killings in Moslem dominated areas or the stonings or beheadings of women for adultery in Islamic regimes or the violent hostility to a Gay film festival in Sarajevo (thus the ironic and cynical hypocristy of Greyson's self-serving stand) or the benightedness that exists throughout most of the Arab and Islamic worlds in general.

Arabs live in Tel Aviv and numerous other Israeli cities and towns as equal citizens. Read what Khaled Abu Toameh and other enlightened Arab citizens in Israel write, if you don't believe me, which obviously you don't. Gaza City and Ramallah and almost all Moslem cities are Judenrein or virtually so. In those few places like Tehran where there are still Jews, they, like all other infidels are less than third class citizens. Nowhere in the Middle East do you see the diversity of cultures and peoples as you see in Israel. And, gay rights, just as full citizenship rights including voting are extended to ALL Israeli citizens, including Arabs. Show me where this is true for non-Arabs and non-Moslems in countries or quasi-countries they control.

Michel Contre Milic.. " Arabs live in Tel Aviv and numerous other Israeli cities and towns as equal citizens "...that shows right there you have no clue what you are talking about...


Haim Cohen, a former judge of the Supreme Court of Israel stated:
"The bitter irony of fate decreed that the same biological and racist argument extended by the Nazis, and which inspired the inflammatory laws of Nuremberg, serve as the basis for the official definition of Jewishness in the bosom of the state of Israel"
(quoted in Joseph Badi, Fundamental Laws of the State of Israel NY).

In Israel, citizenship and nationality are two different things. Both Jews and non-Jews may have Israeli citizenship, but nationality is based on race. There is a Jewish nationality and an Arab nationality. All citizens must register with their nationality. Then "Israel" sets legal rights based on nationality rather than just citizenship.
For ex. The nationality of any Jew is "Jew;" and the nationality of an Israeli Arab(even one who has lived for decades) is "Arab"

95% of Israel's lands are open for development for "Jewish people" only, while Israeli-Palestinian minority (who are close to a quarter of Israel's citizens) are restricted to 3% of land!!!

Israeli-Palestinians mostly continue to live in segregate, gated, and over crowded ghettos that are plagued with high unemployment rate and suffers from lack of basic services.
Many, if not all Palestinian-Israeli villages (within the "Green Line") receives no public services whatsoever , such as roads, sanitation, electricity, schools, ...etc.

Its a RACIST state only set for Jewish people (the Law of Return (1950), the Law of Absentee Property (1950), the Law of the State's Property (1951), the Law of Citizenship (1952), the Status Law (1952), the Israel Lands Administration Law (1960), the Construction and Building Law (1965), and the 2002 temporary law banning marriage between Israelis and Palestinians of the occupied territories...

So before you spout off anymore of your pro-zionist verbal diarrhea know what you are talking about first...

Thank you Mr. Greyson and the others for standing up what a lot of others dont have the spine to do...

Good film. One problem though.

It was not “roving gangs of thugs” that attacked the attendees of the festival; it was Muslim religious fanatics. Why be vague about it? Puzzlingly, we are even shown images of churches in order to infer that the secular nature of Bosnia (and Herzegovina, btw) is somehow impaired by them evil Christians, and not by Muslims. There are no Christians in Sarajevo any more. There are, however, abandoned churches, the images of which the filmmaker uses…well, unethically.

Well done John,
A beautiful, challenging and moving film that speaks out against hatred. Unfortunately, what i find in the posted responses is a hatred of your political position and a projection of that hatred on to you, as if your work and your political activism constitute hate speech—they do not. How does asking for Palestinian representation at TIFF and attempting to spotlight the actions of the Israeli military in Gaza harm Israel or Israelis?

Very happy to see that the video has reached some open minds --

Great to find this film after hearing so much about it.