Podcaster Julia Layani, of Jewish faith, accuses twelve jurors of the “Chéries-Chéris” film festival of having wanted to exclude her and of having prevented her from speaking about the Hamas hostages during the closing ceremony of the event.
“I am censored, silenced, excluded, excommunicated. I am a victim ofanti-Semitism .» Julia Layani, podcaster and entrepreneur, accuses twelve jurors of the LGBT+ festival “Chéries-Chéris”, in which she participated as a member of the jury, of having wanted to exclude her – because she was considered a “far-right Zionist” – and for preventing her from speaking about the Hamas hostages on Tuesday, November 26.
The Île-de-France region, which subsidized the festival, reacted accordingly. Thursday November 28, Vice-President Florence Mosalini-Portelli announced suspending this subsidy. “What happened is revolting, a shame! And unfortunately not surprising. The politics of Valérie Pécresse [la présidente de la Région, NDLR] is and will remain uncompromising in its fight against anti-Semitism.she wrote on X.
It was only on Friday November 29 that the festival organization expressed its “total indignation” faced with this situation and assured to condemn “with the greatest firmness any form of anti-Semitism, racism, Islamophobia and exclusion”, in a press release relayed on their social networks.
“What is the evidence of my Zionism since I never mention it?”
According to Julia Layani’s story, detailed on her Instagram account, while members of the jury plan to speak “atrocities happening around the world” as a conclusion at the end of the festival, the victims of Gaza, Lebanon and Iran are mentioned. “What a great idea. The festival is a great opportunity to denounce the unspeakable”explains the podcaster. She then suggests by email to also discuss the Israeli hostages, still captive in Hamas. After several hours of silence, one of the jurors finally comes to see her. “He isolates me and tells me that the group did not validate my sentence. The group does not want to add Israeli hostages to the text.explains Julia Layani, herself of Jewish faith. Before continuing: “I have to struggle to get a “why” out of my throat. His answer: because that’s not the subject”.
A shocking response for the young woman, who also confides that an article requesting her exclusion from the jury had been written around ten days earlier, among others by the same members of the jury, considering her as a “far-right Zionist”. “What is the evidence of my Zionism since I never mention it? Do they even know the definition of the word “Zionism”? And then this mention of “extreme right”, what is it doing there? I who have always fought, and this time publicly, against the extreme right precisely? adds the LGBT activist, who also regularly displays her fight to defend ecology and women’s rights around the world.
A speech, with tears in your eyes
Despite this, the young entrepreneur still decides to go on stage, “without authorization”. “Excuse me, I am very emotional because I have just suffered something extremely violent behind the scenes. I really have tears in my eyes, I’m sorry…”she begins in her speech, filmed and broadcast on her social networks, before mentioning the Israeli hostages in Gaza. Immediately, the room applauded. Before someone in the audience insulted her about an interview carried out by the podcaster last July with Caroline Fourest, whose comments in 2023 on the difference between the death of Palestinian and Israeli children had sparked controversy.
After reaffirming his “absolute support for Julia Layani”the Chéries-Chéris organization stressed that this festival “is not and never will be a place for partisan political propaganda. Our commitment is clear: to promote diversity, tolerance, mutual respect and to provide a free space for cinematographic expression. Before concluding: “Our juries have complete freedom to express their opinions, but this must always be exercised within the framework of a cinematographic choice, never through a unilateral political position”.
