The Council of Governors of the Academy of Arts and Cinema Sciences presented apologies to Hamdan Ballal, co -director of the Oscar -winning documentary “No Other Land”, following the backlash surrounding its initial response to the recent attack and the detention of the Palestinian filmmaker.
“On Wednesday, we sent a letter in response to reports of violence against the winner of Oscar, Hamdan Ballal, co -director of` `Other Land '', linked to his artistic expression”, reads the letter, obtained by Times. “We regret not directly recognizing Mr. Ballal and the film by name.”
The CEO of the Academy, Bill Kramer, and the letter of President Janet Yang, continued: “We sincerely apologize to Mr. Ballal and all the artists who did not feel taken care of by our previous declaration and want to clearly indicate that the Academy condemns violence of this type all over the world. We disturb the suppression of freedom of expression in all circumstances. ”
The Israeli and Palestinian directors behind “no other field” were not alone in their disappointment in the dull response of the film Academy
A letter praising the support of 600 members of the film Academy – including several Oscar winners – condemned the Oscar Director, writing that its leadership “was well below the feelings that this moment requires”. The letter, obtained Friday by the Times, describes the vague internal missive that the Academy sent its members on Wednesday.
Wednesday's opinion, written by Kramer and Yang, admitted that they had been “invited to speak on behalf of the Academy in response to social, political and economic events”, but reminded readers “the Academy represents nearly 11,000 world members with many unique points of view”. Although the leaders have declared that the Academy “condemns to harm or remove the artists for their work or their points of view”, he did not mention “no other lands” or the co-director Ballal, who was Detainee on Monday After being brutally attacked by Israeli settlers in occupied West Bank.
Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, one of Ballal's “No Other Land” co -directors, tweeted The entire missive early Thursday and doubled its previous Critics about the silence of the academy. He condemned the Academy for having linked his “silence on Hamdan's assault” to his alleged “need to respect the” unique points of view “.
In the open letter from Friday, hundreds of members of the Academy through various divisions – including documentary filmmakers, actors, publishers and producers – were united in their point of view: “We are in condemnation of the brutal assault and the illegal detention of filmmaker Padestin Oscar Oscar
The letter continued: “As artists, we depend on our ability to tell stories without reprisals. Documentary filmmakers are often exposed to extreme risks to light up the world. He is indefensible for an organization to recognize a film with a prize in the first week of March, then defend his filmmakers a few weeks later. ”
The letter also noted that “no other field” won the Oscar functionality for documentary earlier this month without the promotional advantages provided with a distributor. Monday settlers' attack – one of the last attacks on the village of Ballal, Ssiya In the region of Masafer Yatta – “is an attack on all those who dare to testify and say annoying truths,” said the letter.
La Missive concluded: “We will continue to monitor this film team. Earning an Oscar has put its life in growing danger, and we will not massage the words when the security of other artists is at stake.”
Actors Olivia Colman, Rice Ahmed, Joaquin Phoenix, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Susan Sarandon and The filmmaker “Zone of Interest” Jonathan Glazer were part of the Oscar winners of the letter. Times learned on Friday that a group of members of the academy concerned shared the letter with their colleagues, inviting them directly to sign. Times also learned that the names of the signatories have been verified and verified by the team which periodically updates the letter to reflect additional supporters.
The news of the Members' letter has spread while the board of directors of the Academy met on Friday morning to face increasing criticism. Kramer and Yang sent another letter on Friday afternoon to members of the Academy. This time, the leaders of the Academy apologized for their shortcomings.
The Israeli army and police arrested Ballal on Monday evening after a group of settlers went down to the Palestinian village of Susiya while its residents quickly broke their Ramadan, according to the Associated Press. Ballal’s wife Lamia Ballal told AP that she had heard her husband was beaten in front of their house and screaming “I die”. She said that she had seen three men in uniform using the butts of their rifles and that the attention surrounding the victory of the Oscars “no other terrain” led the colonists to “attack us more”.
A TSAhal spokesperson earlier this week said in a statement that “violent confrontation” involved “mutual rocks between the Palestinians and the Israelis” and the accused of “terrorists” of throwing stones towards the army and the Israeli police. The Ballal was one of the three Palestinian men detained as part of the incident. An Israeli who would have been involved in the incident was also detained.
Ballal was released on Tuesday from an Israeli police station with bruises on his face and blood on his clothes. He said to Associated Press During his release that during the detention, he heard “the voices of the soldiers laughing at me” and said to the Tutor Monday's attack “was a revenge for our film”.
Earlier this month, the Oscars celebrated the Ballal, Abraham, the Palestinian activist Basel Adra and the Israeli filmmaker Rachel Szor for “no other land”. The documentary provides a painful report on the demolition of Israel of the Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta and the displacement of the Palestinian communities to build areas of Israeli military training.
