An upcoming anti-Israel documentary film celebrating the illegal student encampments at Columbia University — and featuring protest leader Mahmoud Khalil — is being produced by rapper Macklemore and by groups funded by a Marxist financial network with potential links to the Chinese Communist Party.

The new movie, titled "The Encampments," is executive produced by the anti-Israel rapper and is also produced by BreakThrough Media (BT Media). In turn, that is a group closely tied to the financial network of wealthy Marxist businessman Neville Roy Singham, who sold his Thoughtworks tech company in 2017 and has used the money to fund openly communist endeavors.

Singham, the tech guru with offices in China, has been described as a “comrade” of — and is a financial backer of — "The People’s Forum," a Marxist revolutionary group based in New York City that has been integral to backing the Columbia protests and protests for Khalil, as Just the News detailed in an extensive investigative report. The People’s Forum has been promoting the documentary on social media and held a meeting this week to discuss the upcoming premiere.

Aligned with Hamas

Khalil, a leader in the pro-Palestine and anti-Israel encampments at Columbia University, was detained earlier this month by the Trump administration. The Department of Homeland Security argued that he “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” The People’s Forum helped organize some of the campus chaos and is now also organizing protests to free Khalil.

The new movie is also being distributed by an anti-Israel and pro-Palestine studio called Watermelon Pictures, which says on their website that "Our mission is to shift culture on a large scale by bringing Palestinian cinema, and other untold stories, to broad audiences in a way that entertains, inspires, and activates audiences." 

The movie premiered at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen this week, and it is slated to open at the Angelika Film Center in New York on March 28. Far left-leaning entertainment publications such as Deadline and Variety have written up positive promotions of the encampments documentary. While Axios and others have written about the upcoming film, none have mentioned the Marxist billionaire’s financial links to the groups behind the movie, nor have those outlets described the pro-Hamas bent of many of the film’s producers.

Singham was not able to be reached. Neither the publicity contact for the film nor BreakThrough responded to requests for comment from Just the News.

The China syndrome

The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) released a 2024 report which found that BT Media is “known for promoting pro-CCP geopolitical interests through its outlet BreakThrough News, shares numerous fiscal and organizational connections with other core organizations of the Singham Network.” NCRI, a 501(c)3 charity, says that their role is in "the identification and forecasting of emerging threats that threaten the economic, physical and social health of civil society."

The People’s Forum also “provided grants to BT Media in 2021 and 2022, in addition to significant financial support that BT Media received from other Singham-linked entities,” the report found, and “these grants account for a substantial portion of BT Media’s revenue, which nearly doubled year-over-year from $253,000 in 2020 to a total of $951,000 in 2022.”

The forum is a Marxist revolutionary group that is pro-Communism, pro-China, and anti-Israel. The group has produced dozens of what it describes as teaching materials, many of them pro-CCP.

The Network Contagion report added: “BT News’s reporting focused on a number of pro-CCP, far-left, and after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, pro-Kremlin causes. … In May 2023, BT News joined other Singham Network-linked media outlets in attendance at the Shanghai-based Global Communications Conference of the Global South. … Since October 7, 2023, BT News’ narrative focus has undergone a quantifiable shift away from other far-left causes and towards the war in Gaza.”

The Heritage Foundation also assessed last year that BreakThrough “exemplifies the internal coordination among all the tentacles of the Singham network and of the ecosystem in general.”

Torrent of dark money

BreakThrough is part of the International People’s Media Network (IPMN), which describes itself as “a network of independent media projects from across the globe that collaborate, working collectively to uplift people’s voices and stories.”

A report by the Daily Beast revealed that “all of the International People’s Media Network’s affiliates … appear to drink from the same torrent of dark money pouring out of the bank accounts and nonprofits of tech mogul Neville ‘Roy’ Singham.” The outlet said that “filings submitted to the Internal Revenue Service and the New York State Charities Bureau show BreakThrough News is a nonprofit that has drawn the bulk of its funding from the Justice and Education Fund.”

The Free Beacon reported that key leaders for the forum “serve in top positions at Singham's Justice and Education Fund.” The outlet also reported that the network run by Singham is also behind BreakThrough Media and Dongsheng News, which both push pro-China narratives and whose content is regularly shared by The People’s Forum.

Intelligence Online reported in 2022 that Singham had funded a conference on the “Real Path to Peace” in Ukraine, which was attended by BreakThrough. The People’s Forum and BreakThrough News also list themselves as sharing the same address in New York City. New Lines Magazine describes BreakThrough News as being “housed within The People’s Forum New York office.”

The People’s Dispatch — which has also written favorably about the encampments film — is another affiliate of the IPMN network, and the dispatch’s editor, Zoe Alexander, taught “Summer School” at The People’s Forum.

BreakThrough cheer for Oct. 7 murders

BreakThrough and its staff, including those associated with the upcoming film, have repeatedly shared pro-Hamas sentiments. The encampments film is directed by Michael T. Workman and by Kei Pritsker, a journalist at BreakThrough News. The production team also includes Matthew Belen, a documentary film producer for BreakThrough.

BreakThrough has celebrated the October 7th attacks, including a tweet two days after the murders: “The unprecedented Palestinian counter-offensive against Israel has shattered Israel's facade of invincibility.”

Pritsker’s response to the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians was to say “Happy Indigenous People’s Day weekend” in a tweet that day, accompanied by three Palestinian flags. Pritsker retweeted a People’s Forum tweet that day which called upon supporters to “join us to stand with the people of Palestine, who have the right to resist apartheid, occupation, & oppression.”

Craig Birchfield, director of photography at BreakThrough, tweeted the day after the Hamas attacks: “They have tanks, we’ve got hang gliders, glory to resistance fighters [Palestinian flag emojis]. New York stands with Palestine!” Pritsker retweeted that sentiment.

A few days after the Hamas terrorist attack, BreakThrough shared a lengthy video of Pritsker celebrating October 7th, where he said: “A week ago, Israel thought it had finally snuffed out the flame of Palestinian resistance, but on Saturday the Palestinians boldly declared that Zionism will never win.”

BreakThrough itself tweeted favorably about “Palestinian resistance” on October 7, 2023 — just after the Hamas attacks were underway. The group was sharing an “exclusive” interview with Marwan Abdul Al, a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist group designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S. and elsewhere.

One of the other executive producers of the film is Ben Becker, whom Network Contagion reported as having founded BreakThrough in 2020. Becker is also reportedly a “founding member” of the revolutionary Party for Socialism and Liberation. He is also listed as an “instructor” on The People’s Forum website, where he has taught classes on “Lenin and the Path to Revolution” and the “History of the Communist Manifesto.”

Macklemore: “F*ck America”

The controversial rapper Benjamin Haggerty, who uses the stage name "Macklemore," is listed as an executive producer on the film and has promoted it on his social media. The rapper said in a press release that the Columbia encampments were part of “a generational struggle for justice” and said that the film “ensures the students in U.S. and Gaza are heard, their actions are remembered, and the fight for Palestinian liberation continues."

He said in late October 2023 that “the bombings, kidnappings, and murder of the Israeli people by Hamas was horrific in every way imaginable… but killing innocent humans in retaliation as collective punishment is not the answer” as he criticized Israel.

Macklemore released the song “Hind’s Hall” in 2024, named for one of the buildings on Columbia’s campus which protesters illegally occupied. The song accuses Israel of “genocide” and supports the illegal encampments at Columbia, repeatedly calling upon protesters to “block the barricade until Palestine is free.” The song also hints at support for terrorist attacks on Israel as it laments alleged white supremacy: “Who gets the right to defend and who gets the right of resistance / Has always been about dollars / and the color of your pigment, but / White supremacy is finally on blast / Screamin' ‘Free Palestine’ 'til they're home at last.”

The rapper was dropped from a Las Vegas music festival in September 2024 after saying “F*ck America” during a pro-Palestine concert that month. Macklemore previously found himself mired in controversy in 2014 over a disguise he wore — a wig, a beard, and a comically big nose — during a musical performance.

“I wasn’t attempting to mimic any culture, nor resemble one. A ‘Jewish stereotype’ never crossed my mind,” the rapper said at the time. “It was surprising and disappointing that the images of a disguise were sensationalized, leading to the immediate assertion that my costume was anti-Semitic. I acknowledge how the costume could, within a context of stereotyping, be ascribed to a Jewish caricature. I am here to say that it was absolutely not my intention.”

Macklemore said in a March interview with the Middle East Eye and in a press release promoting the new documentary that “the students have never been wrong — you look back at history, the students have never been wrong in the fight for social justice and change.”

The Watermelon

The distributor of the film, Watermelon Pictures, was founded by Baddie Ali and Hamza Ali. Hamza said this month that he hoped the film “inspires future generations to continue the fight for justice."

Watermelon’s tagline is “From the River to the Screen” and it calls itself a “Palestinian-owned film label” which is “rooted in creative resistance.” The watermelon-colored logo “pays homage to this historical symbol of Palestinian resistance,” the movie company said, calling the new documentary “a film about power and resistance in the 21st century.” The Ali brothers are also executive vice presidents at MPI Media Group, according to LinkedIn, with that company involved with a number of popular films and shows.

The production team for the movie includes Munir Atalla, the head of production at Watermelon. Atalla is a graduate of Columbia and a faculty member there, according to his LinkedIn page. The New York Post reported that Atalla was seen speaking with students inside the encampment in April 2024. He also signed onto a faculty letter telling student protesters that “we stand with you in solidarity.”

Mahmoud Khalil: Film Star

Khalil is set to feature prominently in the movie, according to promotions by the movie’s backers and producers. “Listen to Mahmoud Khalil’s story in his own words: how his family ended up in the refugee camp, where he was born, and his aspirations for a free Palestine. This clip is from our upcoming film The Encampments, which features Mahmoud,” BreakThrough said in an Instagram post on March 12. 

“It is set to be released this year by Watermelon Pictures and executive produced by Macklemore. We are releasing it today to counter the torrent of lies being told about him. Follow the links in bio to sign the petition for his freedom and to make a donation to his family.” In the clip, Khalil says he was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus in Syria, and that “to us, it was always a temporary home until we go back to Palestine.”

BreakThrough said in a March 21 tweet that “the film follows Mahmoud Khalil and other students in their historic stand.” The trailer included interviews with and footage of Khalil.

The People’s Forum has been a driving force behind protests condemning the detention and possible deportation of Khalil. There are scores of videos posted by the forum on social media detailing the group’s role in organizing, promoting, attending, and leading the pro-Khalil protests, including a rally outside a NYC courthouse and a “sit-in at Trump Tower.” Khalil’s legal team addressed the crowd at a protest organized by the forum. There is no indication that Khalil himself is involved in the protests by The People's Forum.

Too much focus on the Hamas attacks

This weekend, The People’s Forum led a “Free Mahmoud, Free Palestine” event in Manhattan. The event was organized by the forum and featured multiple speakers from the group, including its leader. Alana Hadid said at the event that Israel’s actions in Gaza were “the crime of the century” during her speech, and said that "Mahmoud refused to break, and that is why they fear him most. Not weapons, not armies, but the unbreakable will of the Palestinian people."

Macklemore, appearing to wear a keffiyeh-style neckerchief, told the crowd that there was too much focus on the Hamas attacks of October 2023: “Once you learn the real history you can’t unlearn it. Once you get past the media and the White House focusing solely on October 7th, once you begin to look at October 6th, 5th, 4th, and the 75 years before of oppression and displacement — that’s when the truth opens up.”

Shezza Abboushi Dallal, one of Khalil’s lawyers, told the crowd: “We know this is a test case for how far the government can take punishing organizers. The administration says this case is the ‘blueprint,’ and we must treat it as such… What’s at stake in this case is the very ability to dissent.”

Film actress Susan Sarandon, wearing a keffiyeh as a shawl, also spoke.

The “Comrade”

“For months we’ve been the target of a campaign that alleges our funding comes from ‘dark money.’ A few years ago we met Roy Singham, a Marxist comrade who sold his company & donated most of his wealth to non-profits that focus on political education, culture, & internationalism,” The People’s Forum tweeted in December 2021.

Singham married Jodie Evans, the co-founder of the radical left-wing group Code Pink, in 2017. Her group touts itself as antiwar and has become increasingly pro-China in recent years.

The New York Times reported that Singham works in Shanghai, that his efforts there are linked to the CCP, and that he has attended at least one CCP workshop on promoting the party globally. The outlet also reported that Singham provides backing for The People’s Forum.

The outlet also said Singham shares offices with a Chinese media company called Maku Group. The Chinese group’s “About Us” page — which has since been deleted but which was archived by the WayBack Machine in 2023 — says the goal of the company is to promote a positive vision of China worldwide.

Singham previously shared a purported document dated July 1974 showing that the FBI had investigated him as being “potentially dangerous because of background, emotional instability, or activity in groups engaged in activities inimical to U.S.”

Singham also wrote that he had served on the Central Committee from the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. The league, according to the Marxists Internet Archive, “played a key role in inspiring the Black Liberation Movement and spreading Marxist-Leninist ideas among Black workers and workers in general.”

Singham reportedly worked as a “strategic technical consultant” with the Chinese government-linked Chinese telecom giant Huawei from 2001 to 2008, according to New Lines Magazine. Thoughtworks’s “Fifth Agile Software Development Conference” was held in Beijing in 2010, and a press release by Thoughtworks stated that Singham “pointed out that the promotion of Agile in China has had deep influence on the top management of the enterprises and organizations, such… Huawei.”

Then-senator and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Biden Justice Department that “it appears that organizations tied to Neville Roy Singham, a U.S. citizen, have been receiving direction from the CCP.”