カナダのトロントで昨日から始まった国際映画祭。
ここでは、330作品以上の作品が上映されるとか。
・トロント国際映画祭が今週開幕、330作品が集まる（2009年9月9日 jp.reuters.com）
この映画祭には、当然のように（？）イスラエルの映画も出展されるとか。
これに対して、この映画祭自体のボイコットを呼びかける運動が起こってるのだが・・・。
・Toronto film festival hit by protest over Tel Aviv strand（2009年9月7日 guardian.co.uk）
元は、John Greyson 氏が『Greyzone』という作品の出展取りやめを表明したことだとか。
理由としては、イスラエルの対パレスチナ政策の酷さに抗議するためだったりする・・・。
以下は、Greyson 氏がトロント映画祭の実行委員会に送った公開書簡。
・Piers Handling, Cameron Bailey, Noah Cowan Toronto International Film Festival（2009年8月27日 yorku.ca；.pdfファイル）
この公開書簡の冒頭では、イスラエル外務省のトロント総領事こと Amir Gissin 氏が、トロント映画祭を「Brand Israel」キャンペーンの舞台に使うという去年の発言を引用している。
・Brand Israel set to launch in GTA（2008年8月21日 Canadian Jewish News）
実際、今年のトロント映画祭の開幕の特集（？）では Tel Aviv 市が選ばれている。
これは、毎年ある都市の様子を伝える映画を紹介する、というもの（らしい）。
とにかく、Greyson 氏は、この件についてやり場のない怒りを表明していた。
以下、例の公開書簡から、最終3段落を引用する。
---- 以下引用 ----
（中略）
I'm sorry I can't feel the same way about your Tel Aviv spotlight.
Despite this past month of emails and meetings, many questions remain for me about its origins, its funding, its programming, its sponsors.
You say it was initiated in November 2008... but then why would Gissen seem to be claiming it as part of his campaign four months earlier?
You've told me that TIFF isn't officially a part of Brand Israel -- okay -- but why haven't you clarified this publicly?
Why are only Jewish Israeli filmmakers included?
Why are there no voices from the refugee camps and Gaza (or Toronto for that matter), where Tel Aviv's displaced Palestinians now live?
Why only big budget Israeli state-funded features -- why not a program of shorts/docs/indie works by underground Israeli and Palestinian artists?
Why is TIFF accepting and/or encouraging the support of the Israeli government and consulate, a direct flaunting of the boycott, with filmmaker plane tickets, receptions, parties and evidently the Mayor of Tel Aviv opening the spotlight?
Why does this feel like a propaganda campaign?
This decision was very tough.
For thirty years, TIFF has been my film school and my community, an annual immersion in the best of world cinema.
You've helped rewrite the canon through your pioneering support of new voices and difficult ideas, of avant-garde visions and global stories.
You've opened many doors and many minds, and made me think critically and politically about cinema, about how film can speak out and make a difference.
In particular, you've been extraordinarily supportive of my own work, often presenting the hometown premieres of my films to your legendary audiences.
You are three of the smartest, sharpest, skillful and most thoughtful festival heads anywhere -- this isn't hyperbole, with all of you I speak from two decades worth of friendship and deep respect -- which makes this all the more inexplicable and troubling.
What eventually determined my decision to pull out was the subject of Covered itself.
It's a doc about the 2008 Sarajevo Queer Festival, which was cancelled due to brutal anti-gay violence.
The film focuses on the bravery of the organizers and their supporters, and equally, on the ostriches, on those who remained silent, who refused to speak out: most notoriously, the Sarajevo International Film Festival and the Canadian Ambassador in Sarajevo.
To stand in judgment of these ostriches before a TIFF audience, but then say nothing about this Tel Aviv spotlight -- finally, I realized that that was a brand I couldn't stomach.
---- 引用以上 ----
で、この件に関して、トロント映画祭の主催者側は色々釈明していた。
・An Open Letter on City to City: Tel Aviv（2009年8月28日 tiff.net）
まずは、2009年8月28日分tiff.net『An Open Letter～』から、Tel Aviv を特集（？）の対象にした理由について述べてる部分を引用する。
---- 以下引用 ----
（中略）
As the programmer of City To City, I was attracted to Tel Aviv as our inaugural city because the films being made there explore and critique the city from many different perspectives.
Furthermore, the City to City series was conceived and curated entirely independently.
There was no pressure from any outside source.
Contrary to rumours or mistaken media reports, this focus is a product only of TIFF’s programming decisions.
We value that independence and would never compromise it.
The goal of City to City is to take a closer look at global cities through a cinematic lens, especially cities where film contributes to or chronicles social change in compelling ways.
We believe that the 10 films in our inaugural programme do just that.
We encourage everyone to see the films, engage in debate and draw their own conclusions.
（以下略）
---- 引用以上 ----
要は、イスラエル政府からの圧力とは無関係だと述べているのだが・・・。
去年の Gissin 氏の発言を踏まえると、どうにも怪しい発言としか思えない（苦笑）。
で、この後、tiff.net の声明では、Greyson 氏に対し嫌味を述べていた。
以下、2009年8月28日分tiff.net『An Open Letter～』から（略）
---- 以下引用 ----
（中略）
John writes that his protest isn’t against the films or filmmakers we have chosen, but against the spotlight itself.
By that reasoning, no films programmed within this series would have met his approval, no matter what they contained.
For us, the content and form of films does matter.
In fact, when I met with a number of the signatories earlier this week, I encouraged them to see the films before passing judgment on the programme.
Regrettably, they chose a different route.
We know some of them to be veterans of Toronto’s battles against censorship -- all the more surprising to watch them denounce a film series without seeing the films in it.
We recognize that Tel Aviv is not a simple choice and that the city remains contested ground.
We continue to learn more about the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
As a festival that values debate and the exchange of cultures, we will continue to screen the best films we can find from around the world.
This is our contribution to expanding our audiences’ experience of this art form and the worlds it represents.
---- 引用以上 ----
なんだかな～。
Tel Aviv の歴史について例の特集（？）で語るにしても、その内容自体がイスラエル寄りになるのは避けられないのかもな。
当然の事ながら、Jaffa（Tel Aviv の脇にあったパレスチナの人達が住んでいた都市）については無視されるのが関の山だろうが・・・。
それにしても。
このトロント国際映画祭に関して、日本映画の出展状況ばかり伝えてる日本の状況ってのはどうなのよ？
ここでは、330作品以上の作品が上映されるとか。
・トロント国際映画祭が今週開幕、330作品が集まる（2009年9月9日 jp.reuters.com）
この映画祭には、当然のように（？）イスラエルの映画も出展されるとか。
これに対して、この映画祭自体のボイコットを呼びかける運動が起こってるのだが・・・。
・Toronto film festival hit by protest over Tel Aviv strand（2009年9月7日 guardian.co.uk）
元は、John Greyson 氏が『Greyzone』という作品の出展取りやめを表明したことだとか。
理由としては、イスラエルの対パレスチナ政策の酷さに抗議するためだったりする・・・。
以下は、Greyson 氏がトロント映画祭の実行委員会に送った公開書簡。
・Piers Handling, Cameron Bailey, Noah Cowan Toronto International Film Festival（2009年8月27日 yorku.ca；.pdfファイル）
この公開書簡の冒頭では、イスラエル外務省のトロント総領事こと Amir Gissin 氏が、トロント映画祭を「Brand Israel」キャンペーンの舞台に使うという去年の発言を引用している。
・Brand Israel set to launch in GTA（2008年8月21日 Canadian Jewish News）
実際、今年のトロント映画祭の開幕の特集（？）では Tel Aviv 市が選ばれている。
これは、毎年ある都市の様子を伝える映画を紹介する、というもの（らしい）。
とにかく、Greyson 氏は、この件についてやり場のない怒りを表明していた。
以下、例の公開書簡から、最終3段落を引用する。
---- 以下引用 ----
（中略）
I'm sorry I can't feel the same way about your Tel Aviv spotlight.
Despite this past month of emails and meetings, many questions remain for me about its origins, its funding, its programming, its sponsors.
You say it was initiated in November 2008... but then why would Gissen seem to be claiming it as part of his campaign four months earlier?
You've told me that TIFF isn't officially a part of Brand Israel -- okay -- but why haven't you clarified this publicly?
Why are only Jewish Israeli filmmakers included?
Why are there no voices from the refugee camps and Gaza (or Toronto for that matter), where Tel Aviv's displaced Palestinians now live?
Why only big budget Israeli state-funded features -- why not a program of shorts/docs/indie works by underground Israeli and Palestinian artists?
Why is TIFF accepting and/or encouraging the support of the Israeli government and consulate, a direct flaunting of the boycott, with filmmaker plane tickets, receptions, parties and evidently the Mayor of Tel Aviv opening the spotlight?
Why does this feel like a propaganda campaign?
This decision was very tough.
For thirty years, TIFF has been my film school and my community, an annual immersion in the best of world cinema.
You've helped rewrite the canon through your pioneering support of new voices and difficult ideas, of avant-garde visions and global stories.
You've opened many doors and many minds, and made me think critically and politically about cinema, about how film can speak out and make a difference.
In particular, you've been extraordinarily supportive of my own work, often presenting the hometown premieres of my films to your legendary audiences.
You are three of the smartest, sharpest, skillful and most thoughtful festival heads anywhere -- this isn't hyperbole, with all of you I speak from two decades worth of friendship and deep respect -- which makes this all the more inexplicable and troubling.
What eventually determined my decision to pull out was the subject of Covered itself.
It's a doc about the 2008 Sarajevo Queer Festival, which was cancelled due to brutal anti-gay violence.
The film focuses on the bravery of the organizers and their supporters, and equally, on the ostriches, on those who remained silent, who refused to speak out: most notoriously, the Sarajevo International Film Festival and the Canadian Ambassador in Sarajevo.
To stand in judgment of these ostriches before a TIFF audience, but then say nothing about this Tel Aviv spotlight -- finally, I realized that that was a brand I couldn't stomach.
---- 引用以上 ----
で、この件に関して、トロント映画祭の主催者側は色々釈明していた。
・An Open Letter on City to City: Tel Aviv（2009年8月28日 tiff.net）
まずは、2009年8月28日分tiff.net『An Open Letter～』から、Tel Aviv を特集（？）の対象にした理由について述べてる部分を引用する。
---- 以下引用 ----
（中略）
As the programmer of City To City, I was attracted to Tel Aviv as our inaugural city because the films being made there explore and critique the city from many different perspectives.
Furthermore, the City to City series was conceived and curated entirely independently.
There was no pressure from any outside source.
Contrary to rumours or mistaken media reports, this focus is a product only of TIFF’s programming decisions.
We value that independence and would never compromise it.
The goal of City to City is to take a closer look at global cities through a cinematic lens, especially cities where film contributes to or chronicles social change in compelling ways.
We believe that the 10 films in our inaugural programme do just that.
We encourage everyone to see the films, engage in debate and draw their own conclusions.
（以下略）
---- 引用以上 ----
要は、イスラエル政府からの圧力とは無関係だと述べているのだが・・・。
去年の Gissin 氏の発言を踏まえると、どうにも怪しい発言としか思えない（苦笑）。
で、この後、tiff.net の声明では、Greyson 氏に対し嫌味を述べていた。
以下、2009年8月28日分tiff.net『An Open Letter～』から（略）
---- 以下引用 ----
（中略）
John writes that his protest isn’t against the films or filmmakers we have chosen, but against the spotlight itself.
By that reasoning, no films programmed within this series would have met his approval, no matter what they contained.
For us, the content and form of films does matter.
In fact, when I met with a number of the signatories earlier this week, I encouraged them to see the films before passing judgment on the programme.
Regrettably, they chose a different route.
We know some of them to be veterans of Toronto’s battles against censorship -- all the more surprising to watch them denounce a film series without seeing the films in it.
We recognize that Tel Aviv is not a simple choice and that the city remains contested ground.
We continue to learn more about the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
As a festival that values debate and the exchange of cultures, we will continue to screen the best films we can find from around the world.
This is our contribution to expanding our audiences’ experience of this art form and the worlds it represents.
---- 引用以上 ----
なんだかな～。
Tel Aviv の歴史について例の特集（？）で語るにしても、その内容自体がイスラエル寄りになるのは避けられないのかもな。
当然の事ながら、Jaffa（Tel Aviv の脇にあったパレスチナの人達が住んでいた都市）については無視されるのが関の山だろうが・・・。
それにしても。
このトロント国際映画祭に関して、日本映画の出展状況ばかり伝えてる日本の状況ってのはどうなのよ？
