Julia Bacha is a Peabody award-winning filmmaker and the Creative Director at Just Vision. She started her filmmaking career in Cairo, where she wrote and edited “Control Room,” for which she was nominated to the Writer’s Guild of America Award. Her other directing credits include “Encounter Point,” “Budrus,” “My Neighborhood,” and “Naila and the Uprising.” Her films have been broadcast on PBS, HBO, and CBC in Canada, among others. In addition to over 30 film festival awards, Bacha is the recipient of the 2011 Ridenhour Film Prize, the 2012 Doc Society Creative Impact Award, a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2017 Columbia University Medal of Excellence, and the 2019 Chicken & Egg Award. Originally from Brazil, Bacha is a Documentary Branch Member of AMPAS and has given two TED talks, “Pay attention to nonviolence” and “How women wage conflict without violence.”

“Boycott” starts screening at the 2021 DOC NYC Film Festival on November 14. The fest runs from November 10-28.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

JB: This is a film is about Americans from different political backgrounds fighting to preserve the right to boycott for future generations. Over the past several years, more than 30 states have passed laws saying that if you are taking part in a boycott of Israel you aren’t eligible for public contracts, opening the door for governments to condition jobs on people’s political viewpoints.

“Boycott” looks at the origin of these anti-boycott laws in state legislatures, examines the network of organizations pushing them, and follows three individuals who recognize the anti-boycott clauses in their state contracts as a fundamental violation of their First Amendment rights. The film situates their struggle to preserve the right to boycott in the long tradition of boycotts in the United States, from farmworkers to civil rights activists to anti-Apartheid activists, who all used a tactic that the Supreme Court ruled in 1982 to be one of the highest forms of protected political speech under the First Amendment.

I see this as a story that speaks directly to this political moment, in which governments across the globe, including democratic ones, are attempting to silence, intimidate, or punish voices of dissent on a whole range of issues.

I also see it as a story that speaks to the courage of everyday people who are willing to go great lengths to ensure that the well-being and rights of all of us are protected and respected.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

JB: For the past 17 years with the team at Just Vision, we’ve been documenting efforts by Palestinians and Israelis working toward an equitable future in Israel-Palestine. We’ve been particularly attuned to how the conversation in the U.S. on that topic has evolved — which is why we were so alarmed when we learned the extent to which tactics to criminalize criticism of Israel’s human rights record were being adopted in state legislatures across the U.S.

Most of these laws have been flying under the radar. That’s why we’re raising the alarm— so that Americans can start paying attention before it’s too late.

W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?

JB: If you’re employed by the State, check your contracts! More broadly, I hope the film offers a chance for us to reflect on how fragile our democracy becomes when we allow our political leadership— Republican and Democrat— to unquestionably follow the sway of lobbyists. It’s time to rethink how we vote and what we ask of our elected officials, especially given the oversized sway that traditional lobbyist have at the state and federal level.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

JB: Is it a surprise to say COVID-19? We still had four months of filming planned when the pandemic hit in March 2020 and had to pivot to post-production. We had to find a way to tell the story effectively with scenes we simply couldn’t shoot, creatively drawing on archival and other materials. And we had to do so in a timely manner, given the urgency of the topic.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

JB: “Boycott” was funded primarily through grants from industry leaders who believed in us early and supported us at every juncture. We’re tremendously lucky to count on support of funders like The Bertha Doc Society Journalism Fund, IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund, Sundance Institute, Fork Films, CrossCurrents Foundation, Threshold Foundation, and Perspective Fund.

In addition to film industry partners, we also had the support of many individuals and foundations that have championed the creative work of Just Vision over the years.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

JB: I fell in love with filmmaking while editing “Control Room.” I found documentaries to be the most powerful way to combine my passion for storytelling with my drive to create political change.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

JB: Best advice: Find your people and stick with them. Filmmaking is tough, it takes a community, and I’ve been lucky enough to have the Just Vision community, my broader creative community and my incredible family with me through thick and thin.

Worst advice: I honestly can’t think of any bad advice, which means that my brain must have filed it away as information not worth remembering.

W&H: What advice do you have for other women directors?

JB: I think women directors can sometimes feel terrified that we’re being given resources or opportunities that we don’t deserve. We’re conditioned by a male-dominated industry (and world!) to internalize some belief of being an imposter. If that feeling creeps in, and in my case, it still sometimes does, take note of it. But don’t give it the time of day.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

JB: “Stories We Tell” (2012) by Sarah Polley, because I generally love personal documentaries and found this one to be so beautifully and creatively crafted. I also love her fiction film, “Away from Her” (2006).

W&H: How are you adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you keeping creative, and if so, how? 

JB: I honestly haven’t yet adjusted and some days I’m hanging by a thread. I was lucky to work with a tremendously talented team, including editors Flávia de Souza and Eric Metzgar that helped me stay creative through the quarantine.

W&H: The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing— and creating— negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make the doc world more inclusive?

JB: When studio executives, foundation heads, and other industry leaders think about their audience, many still picture a white, straight man. As we know, America (and the world) is far more diverse than that (and America is on its way to becoming a majority minority country). I believe that as we expand our view of who our films are for— and ensure those communities can access our films— we will start re-thinking what stories we want to tell and who we want to tell them.