Veteran U.S. director Jim Jarmusch said on Sunday he was concerned that one of the distributors of his latest film had taken money from a company with ties to the Israeli military.
However, Jarmusch, an independent filmmaker who made movies such as Stranger Than Paradise, Dead Man and Broken Flowers, said he considered all corporate cash to be “dirty”.
Jarmusch is showing his latest film Father Mother Sister Brother at the Venice Film Festival, with Mubi, a boutique distribution company and streaming platform, due to promote the picture in many markets.
However, Mubi has courted controversy this year by accepting a $100 million investment from Sequoia Capital, which has also backed Israeli defence-tech start-ups — ties that have come under close scrutiny because of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Jarmusch said he had raised the issue with the firm and stressed that his dealings with the distributor pre-dated the Sequoia Capital deal, which was signed earlier this year.
“My relationship with Mubi started much before that, and they were fantastic to work with on this film. I was, of course, disappointed and quite disconcerted by this relationship,” he added.
Jarmusch acknowledged the complexity of film financing for arthouse directors, such as himself, saying he had taken money from various sources over the years.
“I consider pretty much all corporate money is dirty money. If you start analysing each of these film companies and their financing structures, you’ll find a lot of nasty dirt,” he said. “We could avoid it and not make films at all,” he said, adding that the onus on responding to such controversies lay with the companies involved and not the filmmakers.
Responding to the initial outcry in June, Mubi said its investors, including Sequoia Capital, helped the company grow, but that their personal views did not reflect its own, arguing that it remained independent and founder-led.
A representative for Mubi declined to comment further at Venice.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has cast a shadow over the Venice festival. Some 1,500 film industry figures signed an open letter last month urging the festival to take a robust stand over the Gaza war and promote Palestinian voices.
Festival director Alberto Barbera told Reuters that Venice welcomed open debate, but dismissed calls for Israeli filmmakers and actors to be barred from the 11-day event.
Jarmusch’s latest picture is divided into three chapters, each exploring relationships between adult children and their distant parents in three different countries — the United States, Ireland and France.
The film features Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat. It is one of 21 movies competing for the top Golden Lion prize, which will be awarded on September 6.
