April 9, 2024
Let’s be direct: we handled all of this very badly.
We allowed the Israeli Film Festival to rent a theater at BMFI, as they have done for several years, to showcase a nonpolitical documentary about a musician. Due to concern for public safety, we decided to cancel the screening.
The Israeli Film Festival has filed an injunction with a Montgomery County judge for breaking our contract, and we have been ordered to show The Child Within Me, so we are showing the movie.
BMFI is an institution run by human beings. We are flawed and have blind spots. Sometimes we make bad calls. We understand that our actions have hurt and offended many. That was the opposite of our intention, and we apologize for
disappointing so many members of our community.
