(JEWISH GROUP) Update: Atlanta Jewish Film Festival to review processes after controversy over anti-Israel juror

With a message of “We are sorry,” the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival announced on Feb. 22 that it would review its organizational processes after a backlash over inclusion of a student in its judges panel who has posted virulently anti-Israel content online.

The controversy erupted on Feb. 20 when the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta announced that it had pulled its funding and support from the festival because the festival retained a student juror “who has publicly shared antisemitic and anti-Israel content” that he created.

The 26th annual festival opened on Feb. 18 and runs through March 3 in theaters, then streams from March 6 to 15. The festival, which along with similar festivals in Miami and San Francisco claims the title of world’s largest Jewish film festival, includes 49 features, 16 short films, three world premieres and 20 countries represented.

The Consulate did not name the juror, who is one of three judging the Human Rights category. In addition to the social media posts, the Consulate said there is “substantial evidence of this person’s participation in at least one anti-Israel university encampment in Atlanta, putting Jewish students at risk and promoting dangerous misinformation about the war in Gaza started by Hamas on October 7, 2023.”

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