Academy Apologizes for Not Naming ‘No Other Land’ Director Hamdan Ballal Amid Outcry From More Than 700 Voters
variety.comClayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has sent out a statement to its 11,000 members following mounting criticism over its lack of public support for Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” who was recently detained by Israeli forces.
On Friday, the Academy issued a follow-up letter explicitly naming Ballal and apologizing for omitting both him and the film from an earlier message sent earlier in the week. “On Wednesday, we sent a letter in response to reports of violence against Oscar winner Hamdan Ballal, co-director of No Other Land, connected to his artistic expression.
We regret that we failed to directly acknowledge Mr. Ballal and the film by name,” the letter read. “We sincerely apologize to Mr.
Ballal and all artists who felt unsupported by our previous statement and want to make it clear that the Academy condemns violence of this kind anywhere in the world.
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