Jim Jarmusch ‘Disappointed’ by Mubi’s Ties to Israeli Military

At the 2025 Venice Film Festival, Jim Jarmusch spoke out against Mubi for their ties to the Israeli military. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he said he was “disappointed and quite disconcerted” that the company distributing his latest film accepted a $100 million investment from Sequoia Capital earlier this year. The venture capital firm is reportedly a key investor in Kela, an Israeli tech startup founded after October 7 that develops military AI. “I have spoken to Mubi about it,” Jarmusch said, noting that he’s worked well with Mubi’s chief content officer Jason Roppell in the past. “I was, of course, disappointed and quite disconcerted by this relationship.”

Jarmusch lamented that making any commercial art in the 21st century almost always involves taking what he called “dirty money.” “I’m not the spokesman. However, yes, I was concerned. I also have a distribution agreement with Mubi for certain territories, which I also had entered into before my knowledge of this,” he said. “But having said that, on a personal level, I have to say I’m an independent filmmaker, and I have taken money from various sources to to be able to realize my films. And I consider pretty much all corporate money dirty money. If you start analyzing each of these film companies and their financing structures, you’re going to find a lot of nasty dirt. It’s all there.”

Indya Moore, who stars in Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother continued that the work to divest art from the military industrial complex is ongoing. “Since the genocide of Palestinians began, there has been an incredible amount of creative warfare and resource warfare behind the scenes,” she said. “What people are trying to figure out is how do we work in a capacity that is ethical and is not enabling a systemic pipeline that funds these kinds of things to happen to people. The due diligence that people are learning how to do is a developing process.”

The Mubi question was raised amid ongoing protests outside the Venice International Film Festival. Hundreds gathered on the Lido August 30 to denounce “ongoing genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing across Palestine carried out by the Israeli government and army,” per Deadline. Other filmmakers who have decried Mubi’s partnership with Sequoia include Fresh Off the Boat creator Eddie Huang. “The beliefs of individual investors do not reflect the views of MUBI,” the company said in a statement to social media June 14. “We take the feedback from our community very seriously, and are steadfast in remaining an independent founder-led company.”