Hollywood slams Academy silence on assaulted Palestinian filmmaker
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Actors such as Joaquin Phoenix, Penelope Cruz, and Richard Gere expressed their dismay over the Academy's reluctance to speak out more forcefully.
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Hamdan Ballal, Oscar-winning Palestinian co-director of "No Other Land," is checked at a hospital in Al Khalil, a day after being detained by the Israeli Occupation Fore following an attack by Jewish settlers in the village of Susiya in Masafer Yatta, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is under fire for its failure to defend No Other Land co-director Hamdan Ballal, a Palestinian filmmaker who was recently attacked by Israeli settlers and detained by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank.
Ballal, whose documentary won Best Documentary at this year's Academy Awards, said he was assaulted earlier this week, held at gunpoint, and detained at a military center where soldiers referenced both his name and the word "Oscar" during shift changes. He was released on Tuesday after being held on accusations of "hurling rocks." Speaking to AFP, Ballal said the "brutality" of the encounter "made me feel it was because I won the Oscar."
While several international film organizations promptly condemned the incident, the US-based Academy initially stayed silent. It later issued a letter to its members stating it condemned "harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints," but notably did not mention Ballal by name.
The vague nature of the statement triggered strong reactions within the film community. More than 600 Academy members responded with a signed letter criticizing the leadership's muted stance. "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," they wrote.
The letter further stated, "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." According to the signatories, the Academy's official response "fell far short of the sentiments this moment calls for."
Actors such as Joaquin Phoenix, Penelope Cruz, and Richard Gere joined the outcry, expressing their dismay over the Academy's reluctance to speak out more forcefully.
Read more: France condemns attack of Oscar-winning Palestinian director
On Friday, Deadline reported that the Academy's board held an emergency meeting to address the growing backlash, though no new public statement has been issued.
Ballal's co-director, Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham, also voiced his disappointment. In a post on X, Abraham criticized the Academy's email to members, writing, "After our criticism, the academy's leaders sent out this email to members explaining their silence on Hamdan's assault: they need to respect 'unique viewpoints'."
after our criticism, the academy's leaders sent out this email to members explaining their silence on Hamdan's assault: they need to respect "unique viewpoints" pic.twitter.com/69mdp4aE9m
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 27, 2025
No Other Land, which documents the expulsion of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta—an area designated by "Israel" as a military zone in the 1980s—has yet to secure major US distribution despite winning the Oscar.
