Sean Carley

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.