Turkish director Necmi Sancak said his debut feature was pulled from domestic release days before its scheduled premiere after he joined an activist flotilla bound for Gaza, a move he says reflects wider pressure on artists speaking out about the conflict.
“Silence is complicity of the genocide right now,” Sancak told Anadolu Agency, saying his choice to speak out outweighed concerns over his career.
Sancak’s film Ayse, which won awards at international festivals, had been slated for theatrical release in Türkiye on Oct. 3. But he said United International Pictures (UIP), the distributor, abruptly canceled the contract, citing his participation in the “Global Sumud Flotilla,” a maritime mission organized by international activists to protest Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
“They told me they are an American company…and that it can be a problem for them,” he said, adding that he was told the deal could be reconsidered after his return. “But I was holding my movie for two years. And we are going to discuss what?”
The filmmaker said colleagues were sympathetic but unwilling to publicly support him, fearing a loss of access to international distribution and funding.
Sancak, whose next film Brussels, Here We Come is in post-production, said he now plans to screen Ayse independently if no new distributor comes forward. “I’m going to take my projector and the screen and go to all the streets, all the parking spots to show my movie,” he said.
His case comes amid growing complaints in the global arts industry of blacklisting and canceled projects targeting artists who voice support for Palestinians. In September, more than 1,300 filmmakers and performers, including Oscar and Cannes award winners, pledged not to collaborate with Israeli institutions they accused of complicity in “genocide and apartheid.”
The Gaza war has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to local health authorities, with months of Israeli bombardment leaving the territory devastated and pushing its population toward famine.
“I don’t need any ideology, any belief, any religion to act to stop this genocide. I’m human. I have feelings,” Sancak said. “That’s why I want to keep writing, keep directing, and keep producing my movies to be their voice by my voice.”