European screens under pressure: Festivals, cultural hesitation and the changing space for Israeli and Jewish Cinema in 2025

By Oliver Bradley

In 2025, Israeli and Jewish-themed cinema continued to appear across European festivals and cinemas, but the year confirmed a structural shift away from what cultural actors describe as normal exchange.

Films were screened and festivals held, yet participation increasingly occurred under hesitation, reputational anxiety and informal exclusion. This pattern has come to be widely described as a “silent boycott” – not declared, but felt in reduced invitations, venue reluctance and quieter refusals.

Israeli filmmakers and producers began articulating this dynamic openly in international media during 2025.

On 6 October 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported that Israeli creators active in Europe and North America were experiencing fewer festival invitations and slower distribution conversations, despite the absence of formal boycott policies. According to the article, filmmakers described an environment of hesitation in which partners avoided Israeli-linked projects to preempt controversy, characterizing the phenomenon as “not a boycott on paper, but one in practice.”

In the European documentary sector, the shift moved from perception to policy. On 27 October 2025, Variety reported that the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) had decided not to invite or accredit Israeli state-affiliated bodies. Deadline followed on 30 October 2025, noting that while IDFA framed the move as an institutional clarification rather than a political stance, the decision was widely interpreted by industry observers as aligning with boycott logic. Both outlets emphasized that the restrictions applied to institutions, not necessarily individual Israeli filmmakers, reinforcing a new dividing line in European cultural policy.

Jewish-themed films and festivals faced related, though distinct, pressures. On 17 October 2025, Euronews reported that the Jewish International Film Festival in Malmö had been canceled after cinemas declined to host screenings, citing security concerns. The Associated Press reported on the same development on 18 October 2025, quoting organizers who said they were unable to secure venues despite the absence of any legal or administrative prohibition. These reports did not indicate a collapse of Jewish cultural programming across Europe, but they did document shrinking access to mainstream venues in specific cities.

Against this backdrop, the SERET International Film Festival continued to operate throughout 2025, offering a case study in adaptation rather than withdrawal. In February 2025, SERET held screenings in Madrid and Barcelona, presenting Israeli feature films such as Running on Sand and Matchmaker, according to The Diplomat in Spain on 11 February 2025. In November 2025, SERET marked ten years of activity in Germany with its Berlin edition, which organizers acknowledged took place under significant strain. Co-director and co-founder Odelia Haroush told EJP that while the festival ultimately succeeded, it was marked by constant logistical disruptions, financial shortfalls, and the withdrawal of cultural funding under current political conditions. She stressed, however, that SERET refused to retreat, insisting that Israeli culture should be seen not as an obstacle but as a bridge, and that exposing audiences to Israeli films remains essential to understanding Israel’s social and cultural diversity. In the Netherlands, SERET’s 2025 edition also went ahead, relying primarily on independent and community-oriented venues rather than large commercial cinema chains.

The term “silent boycott” gained empirical grounding in Germany later that year. On 16 October 2025, the German Bundestag hosted the presentation of Resonanzen – The German-Israeli Cultural Relations, the first comprehensive study of bilateral cultural exchange since 7 October 2023. Commissioned by the Institut für Neue Soziale Plastik and supported by the Federal Foreign Office, the study found that while explicit boycott calls were rare, many German cultural institutions were avoiding cooperation with Israeli partners due to apprehension and social pressure. The authors described “a silent boycott creeping into cultural institutions,” driven by fear of controversy rather than formal directives.

The study provided measurable data to support this assessment. According to its findings, Germany and Israel averaged four to five joint film projects annually between 2020 and 2022. Since late 2023, that number has dropped to one or two per year. Interviews conducted for the study described an atmosphere summarized by one respondent as “anxiety, refusal, evasion.” Bundestag members from the SPD, Greens, and CDU voiced concern at the 16 October 2025 presentation, warning that cultural exchange is a cornerstone of democratic diplomacy and should not erode under pressure.

Taken together, 2025 did not mark the disappearance of Israeli or Jewish cinema from Europe. Films were screened, festivals persisted, and audiences remained. Yet the year confirmed a shift toward narrower platforms, greater friction, and informal exclusion. According to filmmakers, festival organizers, journalists, and empirical research published in October 2025, the defining feature of the current landscape is not an official boycott, but a silent one.