Oscars apologise for not supporting ‘No Other Land’ director Hamdan Ballal following uproar from over 800 voters
nme.comOscar-winning documentary No Other Land.Ballal was released by Israeli authorities on Tuesday (March 25) after his co-director Yuval Abraham wrote on X/Twitter the day before that he had gone missing after being attacked.On Wednesday (March 26), Abraham criticised the Academy in a post on X for not issuing their own statement of support for Ballal, writing: “Sadly, the U.S.
Academy, which awarded us an Oscar three weeks ago, declined to publicly support Hamdan Ballal while he was beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers and settlers.”Shortly afterwards, The Academy released a statement condemning “harming artists”, but did not name any specific person.In response, on Thursday (March 27), a letter began circulating among Academy members, criticising their failure to defend Ballal publicly.
It was signed by over 800 members, including actors Mark Ruffalo, Olivia Colman, Joaquin Phoenix, Riz Ahmed, Penélope Cruz, Emma Thompson, Natasha Lyonne, Javier Bardem, Sandra Hüller, Richard Gere, Andrea Riseborough and Susan Sarandon.Directors Ava DuVernay, Boots Riley, Todd Haynes, Adam McKay, Jonathan Glazer and Jim Jarmusch also joined the call for accountability, as well as Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón and documentary filmmakers such as Alex Gibney, Errol Morris, Laura Poitras, Liz Garbus and Roger Ross Williams.“We stand in condemnation of the brutal assault and unlawful detention of Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal by settlers and Israeli forces in the West Bank,” the letter reads.“To win an Oscar is not an easy task.
Most films in competition are buoyed by wide distribution and exorbitantly priced campaigns… For ‘No Other Land’ to win an Oscar without these advantages speaks to how important the film.
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