Oscars Under Fire for Silence on “Israeli”-Abducted Palestinian Filmmaker

By Staff, Agencies

More than 600 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have criticized the organization for failing to publicly support Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, after his assault and abduction by the "Israeli" regime.

Ballal's co-director, Yuval Abraham, revealed in a post on X that settlers in the West Bank attacked Ballal in the Palestinian village of Susiya, Masafer Yatta.

Following the assault, "Israeli" forces abducted the filmmaker, causing injuries to his head and stomach. Ballal was later released by the "Israeli" forces on Tuesday.

An open letter condemning the attack and the Academy’s inaction had garnered 633 signatures by Friday afternoon, including names such as Mark Ruffalo, Sandra Oh, Ava DuVernay, Penélope Cruz, Alfonso Cuaron, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Joaquin Phoenix. The letter condemned both the assault on Ballal and the Academy’s failure to take a stand.

“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 read.

The members also expressed disappointment over the Academy's failure to defend its award-winning filmmaker, stating, "It is indefensible for an organization to recognize a film with an award in the first week of March and then fail to defend its filmmakers just a few weeks later."

The letter further emphasized that the success of No Other Land at the Oscars highlighted the film’s importance, even with fewer resources than other films with wider distribution.

The members stated that the targeting of Ballal was not just an attack on one filmmaker, but on all who dare to reveal inconvenient truths.

While the Academy sent a statement expressing their shared belief in the value of storytelling and empathy, members felt that it lacked specificity, as it did not mention Ballal or the events surrounding his abduction.

Following the backlash, Academy leaders Bill Kramer and Janet Yang expressed regret for not addressing the issue directly, apologizing for failing to acknowledge the situation and reinforcing the organization’s condemnation of violence and suppression of free speech.