A group of more than 35 renowned filmmakers affiliated with Mubi — including Aki Kaurismäki, Radu Jude, Joshua Oppenheimer, and Miguel Gomes — have signed an open letter urging the arthouse streaming platform and distributor to reconsider its relationship with Sequoia Capital, its new investor, and to publicly condemn the venture capital firm.

The controversy erupted at the end of May, when it was announced that Mubi had secured a $100 million investment from Sequoia Capital, a Silicon Valley firm. Shortly after, Sequoia’s close ties to the Israeli military industry came to light, especially its investment in Kela, a defense tech startup founded in July 2024 by former members of Israeli intelligence units. Kela develops combat operation systems based on artificial intelligence and commercial technology, in the midst of the ongoing military offensive in Gaza.

In the letter, the filmmakers claim that “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.” The signatories — who have released films through the platform or participated in projects distributed by it — believe it is incompatible for an arthouse film platform to collaborate with a firm “involved in murdering Palestinian artists and filmmakers.”

The group is demanding that Mubi respond to the demands made by the Film Workers for Palestine network, which represents over 9,000 industry professionals, by implementing three key measures:

• Publicly condemn Sequoia Capital for “profiteering from genocide.”

• Remove Sequoia partner Andrew Reed from Mubi’s board of directors.

• Implement an ethical policy for all future investments and respect the guidelines set by PACBI (the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel).

The backlash has also led to a series of broken partnerships. Renowned cultural centers and film festivals — such as Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts, Mexico City’s Cineteca Nacional, Bogotá’s Cinemateca, and the Melbourne International Film Festival — have all canceled their participation in Mubi Fest, a traveling festival initially planned to take place in 12 cities. Last week, the Valdivia Film Festival in Chile announced it would not screen any films distributed by Mubi, citing its ties to Sequoia as the reason.

Organizations like Girls In Film, which maintained a seven-year collaboration with Mubi, have also ended their partnership, stating that the company “has chosen commercial growth over the lives of marginalized and oppressed people.”

In response to the controversy, Mubi issued a brief statement arguing that “the beliefs of individual investors do not reflect the views of Mubi” and declined to comment on the letter.

Full letter:

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, a private 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.