A Melbourne cinema that was scheduled to screen the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land as a fundraiser for Palestine has cancelled the event, after organisers — the Jewish Council of Australia (JCA) — revealed that the cinema received threats over the event.
JCA organised the fundraising event with the Elsternwick-based Classic Cinemas to take place on May 1, and would also include a live discussion between both Palestinian and Israeli speakers after the film.
One of the film-makers also reportedly recorded a personal message for the event.
‘No Other Land’ won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature this year. (Source: Getty Images)
The event was not widely publicised, but a Humanitix page that sold tickets to the event went live this week, per The Guardian. The page is now unavailable.
One of the organisers of the event, Sophia Kagan, said to The Guardian that Classic Cinemas called her to let her know the event would be cancelled on Wednesday. Kagan stated that she was “deeply disappointed” to the outlet.
According to Kagan, the cinema had received over 20 threats and complaints in one single day, and that protests had also been planned for the event.
Classic Cinemas allegedly said that it was concerned for the safety of patrons and staff, leading to its cancellation.
“What does that say about freedom of expression in Australia, that an Oscar-winning film made by an Israeli-Palestinian collective, which is being screened in Israel, is censored in such a blatant way?” Kagan said.
“I think that Jewish and non-Jewish residents in my neighbourhood are entitled to see this film.
“I find any sort of threats and complaints and opposition to the screening quite extraordinary, and I think that the fact that the cinema caved so quickly to these complaints sets a really bad precedent”
PEDESTRIAN.TV has reached out to Classic Cinemas for comment.
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