One series this week comes from Israel, and that’s worth some discussion. This feature is informational, but that doesn’t come without responsibility as to how information is shared. Let me preface this by saying I am including the Israeli series, and I have also made sure to follow Palestinian-led BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) guidelines. How can that be? The two aren’t as mutually opposed as media tends to describe.
I seldom choose to disinclude something here. If I do, it’s because it’s harmful. Let’s get out of the way what something harmful might look like. I once chose not to include Sia’s feature directorial debut “Music” because autism organizations and autistic communities uniformly said it was bigoted, misrepresentative, and harmful.
If the goal of this weekly feature is to platform women because they’re marginalized and don’t have access to the same budgets, marketing, and distribution, then it can’t be built on bigotry toward another marginalized group.
That can throw a lot into question. Do I share something from China when the country’s running concentration camps targeting Uighurs? Do I share something from the U.S. when we ran concentration camps targeting Latin-Americans under Trump, and have long operated a justice system that’s turned prisons into a pipeline for labor camps targeting Black people? Artists are not their governments, and often are some of the leading voices against them – but the intersections can sometimes get messy or propagandistic. When such a controversy exists around an artist or project, at the very least I have to include that information for you.
That brings me to the BDS movement and the situation between Gaza and Israel. I do believe in boycotts when they’re selective and precise. Some conversations I’ve had about BDS focus on a misunderstanding that it’s a blanket boycott of any Israeli person. This is not the case. If that’s what boycotts were, they wouldn’t be effective. And if that’s what they were, I wouldn’t be sharing anything from anywhere.
Yet I’ve shared Turkish series despite Turkey’s autocratic government and persecution of Kurds and other ethnic minorities. In so doing, I’ve seen that many filmmakers culturally lead in pushing back against that autocracy and persecution. I’ve shared Polish series despite its government persecuting LGBTQ+ people, and seen many of those series pushing back with wonderful representation and civil rights arguments.
In terms of individual Israeli artists, BDS only asks for boycott of those who have signed a specific type of contract with Israel’s government that binds the artist to certain nationalistic messaging in their work. This constitutes a small fraction of Israeli artists. Otherwise, it asks to use individual judgment as to what’s harmful.
In other words, not that far off from how I judge everything else from everywhere else. As a separate example, there is some propagandistic Trumpist filmmaking I haven’t included here over the years. There’s not really a specific organized boycott for that; but I’m not platforming something that argues for fascism or dehumanizes a group of people.
But wait! I’ll still share something from Disney or Amazon, which each have systemic patterns of workplace abuse. Tencent has enabled some persecution by the Chinese government. If I stopped sharing work from Tencent, which applies a corporate strategy of investing a small amount in a vast array of films and series, this weekly feature would probably be half the size. There are plenty of areas I wrestle with. There are areas where I make concessions and don’t know if I’ve made the right choice. I like to think the artist can overcome the backer, but…I really don’t know for sure, and it’s certainly not a guarantee. Do I believe that because I believe in the power of art so much, or do I believe that because it makes my job easier? It’s the biggest question critics should be arguing right now, and I’m not sure that as an industry we’ve done that enough.
So is my approach a perfect solution? It is not. Is it a good one? I hope it’s in the realm, and if I keep asking that regularly, and talking about it publicly, maybe a bit more of the critical industry can weigh in and have that conversation.
And I realize this explanation may frustrate or start to branch off – maybe it’s more granular into my thought process than most folks care about – but being transparent about my reasoning is important to me. At the end of the day, I am choosing to share a series from Israel because – as far as I can tell – Palestinian-led BDS guidelines do not ask for any boycott of it.
Guidelines for the intersection of BDS and Israeli artists are pretty nuanced and focus on opposing systemic normalization rather than culture or artists themselves. That makes a lot of sense. Why would you oppose artists when they’re often at the forefront of the allyship you want – and several Israeli artists have been very vocal in their opposition to the current conquest of Gaza. Yet often when this conversation comes up, that nuance is lost and BDS is treated as a blanket boycott of every Israeli artist. That’s simply not the case, and I have not been able to find anything close to that suggested through BDS or PACBI.
I share new series and movies by women from the past week here, many of which have only just premiered or haven’t run all their episodes. I haven’t gotten a chance to watch most of them by the time I put the feature up. So murder mystery “The Truth” from Israel may engage relationships with Gazan people from one perspective or the other, or not at all. I don’t know yet, but from what I have been able to tell through initial research there is no reason or expectation to disinclude it.
New shows by women come from Israel, Italy, Korea, South Africa, and the U.K. A new movie comes from the U.S.
NEW SERIES
Eric (Netflix)
showrunner Abi Morgan
directed by Lucy Forbes
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Vincent, a grieving father whose son is missing. He finds solace by inventing Eric, the monster he imagines lives under his missing son’s bed.
Abi Morgan writes and showruns. She’s a 5-time BAFTA nominee, including for her screenplay of “The Iron Lady” and a win for the series “White Girl”.
Lucy Forbes directs. She has two BAFTA noms herself for “This is Going to Hurt”, and co-helmed one of my favorite 2020 series, “In My Skin”.
All 6 episodes of “Eric” are out on Netflix.
The Life You Wanted (Netflix)
co-showrunner Monica Rametta
In this Italian series, Gloria is a trans woman who is fearful of reconnecting with an old friend from her pre-transition days. She wants to forget that time, and her former friend’s betrayal doesn’t help. The series stars a trans actress in the role of Gloria, Vittoria Schisano.
Monica Rametta co-created and showruns the series with Ivan Cotroneo.
All 6 episodes of “The Life You Wanted” are out on Netflix.
How to Ruin Love (Netflix)
showrunner Rethabile Ramaphakela
Zoleka suspects her boyfriend of cheating. She hatches a plan to catch him in the act, only to ruin his surprise proposal. She then sets out to win him back.
“How to Ruin Love” is out on Netflix.
The Truth (Acorn TV)
showrunner Daphna Levin
This Israeli drama finds a court case reaching its verdict even as an identical murder throws into question the guilt of the accused. Detective Racheli Zabatani re-investigates both crimes, the first of which happened when she was still in high school.
Daphna Levin showruns and co-writes. She’s the creator of the original “Euphoria”, on which the HBO/Max series is based.
The two-episode premiere is out on Acorn TV. A new episode drops every Monday.
Pyramid Game (Paramount+)
directed by Park So Yeon
In this Korean series, the hierarchy of Baekyeon Girls’ High School is decided every month by vote. Soo Ji is a new transfer who scores a zero and lands at the bottom of the ranking system. As she becomes a target of bullying and violence, she starts fighting back. Bona (“Your House Helper”, “Twenty-Five Twenty-One”) stars as Soo Ji.
Park So Yeon directs. Her previous credits include “Undercover” and “The Heavenly Idol”.
“Pyramid Game” is out on Paramount+.
NEW MOVIES
Summer Camp (in theaters)
directed by Castille Landon
Kathy Bates, Diane Keaton, and Alfre Woodard star as childhood friends who meet up for a summer camp reunion decades later. Dennis Haysbert, Bevery D’Angelo, and Eugene Levy co-star.
Castille Landon writes and directs.
“Summer Camp” opens in wide release tomorrow, Friday May 31.
Take a look at new shows + movies by women from past weeks.
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Gabriel Diego Valdez 