Filmmakers including Robert Greene, Joshua Oppenheimer, Sarah Friedland, Radu Jude, Levan Akin, and Miguel Gomes are among the more than 35 who have signed an open letter from Film Workers for Palestine calling on indie distributor Mubi to part ways with investor Sequoia Capital.
The venture capital firm has recently invested in Israeli military-aligned businesses, and backlash against Mubi has been growing since the investor’s ties came to light in June. Sequoia had just given Mubi a $100 million investment. But since February 2024, Sequoia has also invested in Kela, a military tech startup that finds weapons and military-grade applications for AI and drone tech. Sequoia itself touts the partnership with Kela on its website as a way to “leverage Israel’s unique cadre of technowarriors to help defend the Western world order.”
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When reached by IndieWire, Mubi had no comment.
Since June, the backlash against Mubi has been growing. These are not the headlines the expanding indie distributor wants just months after having its biggest success to date, by steering its Cannes 2024 acquisition “The Substance” to five Academy Award nominations. Out of Cannes 2025, Mubi made several more prominent acquisitions, including Oliver Hermanus’ “The History of Sound,” Kelly Reichardt’s “The Mastermind,” and Lynne Ramsay’s “Die My Love.” Mubi also has the forthcoming New York Film Festival opening night title, Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother.”
The letter from Film Workers for Palestine, obtained by IndieWire, reads:
Dear Mubi leadership,
We write as filmmakers who have a professional relationship to Mubi to express our serious concern regarding Mubi’s decision to accept $100 million in funding from Sequoia Capital, aprivate equity firm that, since late 2023 has chosen to double down on investing in Israeli military technology companies with the goal of profiting from the Gazan genocide. In 2024, Sequoia heavily invested in Kela, a military tech startup founded by a former senior manager of Palantir Israel and multiple Israeli military intelligence veterans, as well as military drone manufacturer Neros, and the unmanned aerial vehicle manufacture, Mach Industries.
Mubi’s financial growth as a company is now explicitly tied to the genocide in Gaza, which implicates all of us that work with Mubi. We too believe that cinema can be powerful. And we know that we can’t always control how audiences will respond to our work, and whether or not it will move and inspire them. But we can control how our work reflects our values and commitments—ones that are wholly ignored when our work is brought into alliance with a genocide-profiteering private equity firm.
Gaza is enduring mass civilian killings, including of journalists, artists, and film workers, alongside the widespread destruction of Palestinian cultural sites and heritage. We don’t believe an arthouse film platform can meaningfully support a global community of cinephiles while also partnering with a company invested in murdering Palestinian artists and filmmakers. We approach our work with care for the people and communities they represent, and the audiences who will watch it, because as artists we are accountable to more than the bottom line. Yet Mubi’s decision to partner with Sequoia demonstrates a total lack of accountability to the artists and communities who have helped the company flourish. We believe that it is our ethical duty to do no harm. We expect our partners, at a minimum, to refuse to be complicit in the horrific violence being waged against Palestinians.
We ask you to heed the call made by Film Workers for Palestine and take action that meaningfully responds to the artists and the audiences who are such an integral part of Mubi’s success.
The full list of signatories:
Aki Kaurismäki
Radu Jude
Jessica Beshir
Joshua Oppenheimer
Robert Greene
Kazik Radwanski
Carson Lund
Michael Basta
Nate Fisher
Blake Williams
Iva Radivojevic
Nina Menkes
Ben Rivers
Bingham Bryant
Kit Zauhar
Ian Edlund
Sarah Friedland
Kathleen Chalfant
Miguel Gomes
Constance Tsang
Truong Minh Quy
Deragh Campbell
Laura Huertas
John Smith
Andrea Luka Zimmerman
Cherien Dabis
Tyler Taormina
Erik Lund
Maureen Fazendeiro
Levan Akin
Courtney Stephens
Eric Baudelaire
Camilo Restrepo
Teddy Williams
Nahuel Perez Biscayart
Jussi Vatanen
Neo Sora
Sofia Bohdanowicz
Additional reporting by Ryan Lattanzio.
