Pedro Almodovar, Luca Guadagnino, Isabelle Huppert Sign Letter Supporting Polish LGBT+ Community

“Pain and Glory” director Pedro Almodovar, “The Nun” actor Isabelle Huppert and “Call Me by Your Name” filmmaker Luca Guadagnino are among a galaxy of 70 film, television, literature and eminent personalities from other walks of life who have signed an open letter expressing “outrage” over the repression of the LGBT+ community in Poland.

Addressed to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the letter states: “We, the undersigned, express our outrage at repressions directed against the LGBT+ community in Poland. We speak out in solidarity with activists and their allies, who are being detained, brutalized, and intimidated. We voice our grave concern about the future of democracy in Poland, a country with an admirable history of resistance to totalitarianism and struggle for freedom.”

Other signees include Polish filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski, whose “Ida” won an Oscar, “The Favourite” director Yorgos Lanthimos, “Vera Drake” director Mike Leigh, and actors Ed Harris and James Norton.

After Polish president Andrzej Duda was reelected for a second term earlier this month, several opposition members showed up at the swearing in ceremony wearing Pride colors. During his election campaign, Duda had said that members of the LGBT+ community “are not people, it’s an ideology.” Some Polish towns have declared themselves “LGBT-free zones.”

The letter goes on to provide details of activists who were arrested and detained Aug. 7 for participating in a gathering, and requests the Polish government control growing homophobic aggression in the country.

“We call on the Polish government to stop targeting sexual minorities, to stop supporting organizations that spread homophobia, and to hold accountable those who are responsible for unlawful and violent arrests of Aug. 7, 2020,” the letter continues.

“We call on the European Commission to take immediate steps to defend core European values – equality, non-discrimination, respect for minorities – which are being blatantly violated in Poland. LGBT+ rights are human rights and must be defended as such,” the letter concludes.

The letter was started by Polish Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk, alongside filmmaker Agnieszka Holland and sociologist Agnieszka Graff.

The signatories:

Naja Marie Aidt, writer, Danish language

Pedro Almodóvar, film director, Spain

Jakuta Alikavazovic, writer, France

Margaret Atwood, writer, Canada

Paul Auster, writer, U.S.

John Banville, writer, Ireland

Sebastian Barry, writer, Ireland

Judith Butler, philosopher, U.S.

Sophie Calle, writer and artist, France

John Maxwell Coetzee, writer, South Africa

Isabel Coixet, director, Spain

Stephen Daldry, director, U.K.

Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, writer, France

Lucas Dhont, director, Belgium

Marion Döring, director of European Film Academy

Cynthia Enloe, political scientist, U.S.

Anne Enright, writer, Ireland

Ildiko Enyedi, director, Hungary

Richard Flanagan, writer, Australia

Barbara Frey, theater and opera director, Switzerland/Austria

Timothy Garton Ash, historian, U.K.

Agnieszka Graff, writer, Poland

Luca Guadagnino, director, Italy

Miron Hackenbeck, dramaturg, Germany

Ed Harris, actor, director, U.S.

Aleksander Hemon, writer, Bosnia/U.S.

Agnieszka Holland, director, Poland

Siri Hustvedt, writer, U.S.

Isabelle Huppert, actress, France

Aki Kaurismäki, director, Finland

Padraic Kenney, historian, U.S.

Jan Komasa, director, Poland

Ivan Krastev, political scientist, Bulgaria

Jan Kubik, political scientist, U.K.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, choreographer, Belgium

Yorgos Lanthimos, director, Greece

Andrzej Leder, philosopher, Poland

Jacek Leociak, historian, Poland

Jonathan Littell, writer, France

Mike Leigh, director, U.K.

Deborah Levi, writer, U.K.

Edouard Louis, writer, France

Sergei Loznitsa, director, Germany/Ukraine

Valeria Luiselli, writer, U.S.

Dorota Masłowska, writer, Poland

Hisham Matar, writer, U.S.

Ulrich Matthes, actor, Germany

Ian McEwan, writer, U.K.

Lina Meruane, writer, Chile

Teona Mitevska, director, North Macedonia

Chantal Mouffe, philosopher, Belgium

James Norton, actor, U.K.

Claus Offe, sociologist, Germany

Paweł Pawlikowski, director, Poland

Richard Powers, writer, U.S.

Axel Ranisch, filmmaker and opera director, Germany

Keith Ridgway, writer, Ireland

Philippe Sands, lawyer and writer, U.K.

Volker Schlöndorff, director, Germany

Marci Shore, historian, U.S.

Stellan Skarsgaard, actor, Sweden

Leila Slimani, writer, France

Timothy Snyder, historian, U.S.

Johanna ter Steege, actress, the Netherlands

Dariusz Stola, historian, Poland

Małgorzata Szczęśniak, stage designer, Poland

Małgorzata Szumowska, director, Poland

Colm Toibin, writer, Ireland

Olga Tokarczuk, writer, Poland

Alia Trabucco Zerán, writer, Chile

Fien Troch, director, Belgium

Jan Vandenhouwe, artistic director and opera dramaturg, Belgium

Krzysztof Warlikowski, theater director, Poland/France

Beau Willimon, playwright, screenwriter, U.S.

Adam Zagajewski, poet, Poland

Slavoj Žižek, philosopher, Slovenia