Elizabeth Olsen, Richard Gere, and Penélope Cruz are among the A-list actors who’ve signed an open letter criticizing Academy leadership for their response to the alleged assault and arrest of Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian filmmaker who won an Oscar for co-directing No Other Land, just weeks prior.
“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,” read the letter. “As artists, we depend on our ability to tell stories without reprisals. Documentary filmmakers often expose themselves to extreme risks to enlighten the world.”
The letter was signed by over 680 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from across genres, including Raul Castillo, Sandra Oh, Ava DuVernay, Olivia Colman, Javier Bardem, along with dozens of documentarians.
“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 read, calling the reported assault on Ballal “an attack on all those who dare to bear witness and tell inconvenient truths.”
“We will continue to watch over this film team,” the letter read. “Winning an Oscar has put their lives in increasing danger, and we will not mince words when the safety of fellow artists is at stake.”
Earlier this week, Ballal was attacked by Israeli settlers and detained by the authorities, according to his co-directors and a Jewish activist group. The filmmaker was one of three Palestinians detained in the village of Susiya, said Ballal’s attorney Lea Tsemel, per the Associated Press.
The Academy released a lukewarm statement that did not refer to the attack itself, nor mention Ballal by name, but condemned “suppressing artists for their work.” Academy chief executive Bill Kramer wrote originally: “We are living in a time of profound change, marked by conflict and uncertainty – across the globe, in the US and within our own industry.”
Kramer added: “Understandably, we are often asked to speak on behalf of the Academy in response to social, political and economic events. In these instances, it is important to note that the Academy represents close to 11,000 global members with many unique viewpoints.”
Yuval Abraham, one of the Israeli co-directors on the film, criticized the response, comparing it to the “rightfully strong” message the Academy sent after six Iranian filmmakers had been arrested for their work.
Abraham had previously claimed on X that Ballal had been “lynched” by settlers who “beat him, and he has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding.” In an interview with the Guardian, Ballal said he feared for his life after allegedly being beaten with rifle butts. “It was a revenge for our movie,” he told the publication. “I heard the voices of the soldiers, they were laughing about me … I heard [the word] ‘Oscar’.”
Israel Defense Forces denied Ballal was beaten, according to The Guardian, claiming that the military organization had “facilitated medical treatment for the detainees.”
On Friday, the Academy issued another equally lukewarm apology for their vague statement. “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. We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances.”
In a statement previously shared statement with Rolling Stone, the Center for Jewish Nonviolence said “dozens of settlers” attacked the Palestinian village of Susiya in the Masafer Yatta area of the southern West Bank. The assailants allegedly attacked “two homes, destroyed water tanks, and stole security cameras.”
From Rolling Stone US
