Kultur- und Kreativpilot*innen Award Revoked from Cinelogue Following Dispute Over Palestine Solidarity Statement

In early July 2024, Kultur- und Kreativpilot*innen Deutschland reached out to us (Cinelogue) through Instagram, encouraging us to apply for their annual award, which recognizes creative companies or founders in Germany. Cinelogue is a curated streaming platform dedicated to cinema from the Global Majority, collaborative curation, and critical dialogue. We strictly refrain from working with the German government or state-funded institutions on a curatorial level. However, given our current financial situation, accepting an award that offers a year of free mentorship seemed like an option worth considering. Cinelogue has been operating under very precarious circumstances, with no funding for nearly two years, and we need any assistance available. After discussing with the core team, I decided to apply.

By mid-September, I was informed that Cinelogue had been selected for the award. The news was surprising, especially given Cinelogue’s political stance regarding Palestine. Despite conflicting feelings, I decided to accept the award along with the uncertainties on how to navigate it, acknowledging this internal conflict as part of our reality in Germany and realizing Cinelogue needed the mentorship support.

Then, on October 22, I received a call from the Kultur- und Kreativpilot*innen project manager, whom I had met during the jury rounds in early September. She explained that certain phrases in Cinelogue’s public statements had been found to violate the code of conduct of the u-institute, which manages the project. She asked if I could join a Zoom meeting the following day with two additional representatives from The Impact Company, serving as their awareness team. During the call, they told me that they have decided to revoke the award from Cinelogue. As a reason for their decision, they highlighted specific sentences in Cinelogue’s Palestine solidarity statement published on Instagram in early June – particularly those advocating for the abolition of Zionism and describing it as a continuation of colonialism – as being in conflict with the u-institut’s code of conduct due to what they viewed as discriminatory implications against a population or specific group of people.

I clarified that our statement targets an ideology rather than any specific population, explaining that Zionism represents a framework under which a genocide has been inflicted. Ultimately, I expressed that perhaps it was best to part ways, and that this was only a confirmation of my existing discomfort with accepting the award in the first place. A few days after the call, I requested a written explanation of their decision to withdraw the award but have not received a response.