Citing ‘Logistical Issues,’ UC Berkeley Denies Being Swayed by Azerbaijan for Censoring Artsakh-Themed Film

It has taken a month for officials at University of California in Berkeley to issue a response for its abrupt cancelation last month of a screening of the Artsakh-themed film “My Sweet Land” after complaints from the Armenian Student Association, which said that Azerbaijan’s Consulate General pressured university officials.

The UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Center abruptly cancelled the screening of the film “My Sweet Land” scheduled for April 24 — Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day — following direct pressure from the Azerbaijani consulate through a letter sent two days before the slated event.

The film captures the perspective of an 11-year-old Armenian boy in the aftermath of Azerbaijan’s 2020 invasion of Artsakh and has been widely screened at American colleges and universities as part of student-led Armenian Genocide commemoration efforts.

In a meeting with Human Rights Center leadership prior to the consulate’s involvement, three Azerbaijani students allegedly described the 2023 ethnic cleansing of Artsakh as a “false” event — a characterization they later reaffirmed in interviews with Azerbaijani state-run media, which also used the same language to deny the 1915 Armenian Genocide, Asbarez reported last month.

“The Berkeley Human Rights Center postponed our film screening not only due to potential protest, but because Azerbaijan’s consulate directly pressured Berkeley Law and other cosponsors to cancel or reconsider their association with the event,” the Cal-ASA said last month in response to the widely condemned decision to cancel the screening.

“We cannot set a precedent where external political pressure, especially from a government, dictates what narratives are heard on campus. Cal ASA remains committed to telling the truth about Artsakh and the Armenian Genocide. We urge our university and our peers to reflect on what it means to truly stand for justice. Silence is not neutrality, it is complicity,” the Cal ASA added.

More than a month after the cancelation of the screening, UC Berkeley officials told the campus-based The College Fix publication that the postponement was due to logistical issues and security concerns, not political pressure.

Betsy Popken, executive director of the Human Rights Center, emphasized to The College Fix that “foreign governments do not influence the events we produce.” She noted that the potential for protests required additional staffing, which was not feasible given the event’s last-minute timing.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression criticized the university’s decision, suggesting that yielding to external pressure sets a concerning precedent for free speech on campus.

Jessie Appleby of FIRE told The College Fix that “capitulating to outside pressure to cancel an event is unwise and only incentivizes similar behavior in the future.”

It is worth noting that following direct pressure from Azerbaijan, Jordan officially withdrew the submission of “My Sweet Land” as its entry for the 2025 Academy Awards.

Adding insult to injury, Azerbaijani state media openly celebrated Berkeley’s cancellation as a political triumph and lauded the Azerbaijani students who campaigned for censorship as “national heroes.”