News

The faculty of York University’s film school has taken the unusual step of criticizing its own staff member, John Greyson, over his continuing campaign to promote a cultural boycott of Israel.

It was Greyson who precipitated last fall's controversy at the Toronto International Film Festival when he withdrew his own short documentary film from the lineup, in protest of the Festival's decision to spotlight a series of films about Tel Aviv.

Now, Greyson, an associate professor of production, is spearheading a new drive to boycott the Tel Aviv University International Student Film Festival, scheduled for the spring, and it's this one that has irked his colleagues at York.

Last month, in letters to 90 film schools soliciting support for his position, Greyson attached the names of director James Cameron (Avatar) and actress Jane Fonda implying that they supported the campaign.

However, neither Cameron nor Fonda had been asked to sign on to this open letter.

Greyson later sent a follow-up apology to the schools, explaining that he had only appended the names of Cameron and Fonda “as fictional examples,” to demonstrate a standard format for stating affiliations.

"John's free to take whatever position he wants to take," said the department's chair, Amnon Buchbinder. "But the notion that we should boycott a student film festival is absurd. I've made that clear to John."

Greyson's colleague, York film professor Tereza Barta, subsequently sent a letter to the Tel Aviv organizers saying the school “utterly dissociates itself from John Greyson’s stand on the issue...While the department can not and will not censor personal and individual political views...[He] gave you the misleading impression that he may speak on the behalf of his colleagues but he apparently abused his position...to pursue his own individual political agenda.”

Ms. Barta said it was the first instance she could think of in which the York faculty had disaasociated itself from one of its own members.

By an overwhelming majority, according to Barta, the school's production committee voted to submit its own students’ films to the Tel Aviv festival.

Mr. Greyson did not respond to email requests for an interview.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story included incorrect information. The article has been corrected.