Oscar winners criticize the Academy’s declaration on Hamdan Ballal

More than 600 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have signed an open letter criticizing the “lack of support” of the Academy for No other land Director Hamdan Ballal on March 27 following his detention by the Israeli authorities. “As artists, we depend on our ability to tell stories without reprisals,” said the letter. “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 during the first week of March, then defend his filmmakers a few weeks later. ” Notable signatories include Alfonso Cuarón, Rice Ahmed, Mark Ruffalo, Penulope Cruz, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Todd Haynes, Olivia Colman and Joaquin Phoenix. Jonathan Glazer, director of the Holocaust drama, is also among them, the director of the Holocaust drama Area of ​​interest, who spoke out against the “dehumanization” of Israel of Gaza in his speech of the Oscars in 2024.

More than 400 signatories come from the documentary branch of Ampas. “The declaration of Bill Kramer and Janet Yang fell away from the feelings of this moment,” he reads. “Consequently, we publish our own declaration, which speaks of the undersigned members of the Academy of Arts and Cinema Sciences.”

The Academy published a statement on March 26 of Kramer, its CEO, and Yang, its president, who did not appoint Ballal. “The academy condemns or removes artists for their work or their points of view,” he reads. “We live in a period of deep changes, marked by conflicts and uncertainty – around the world, in the United States and our own industry. Naturally, we are often asked to speak on behalf of the Academy in response to social, political and economic events. In these cases, it is important to note that the Academy represents nearly 11,000 world members with many unique points of view. ”

No other land, This documented the Palestinians residing in the trip to Masafer Yatta, won the Academy Prize for the best documentary feature at the 2025 Oscars. Ballal, which is Palestinian, was injured during an attack by Israeli settlers on Susiya, a village in the region, and owned by the FDI, according to March 24. He was released on March 25, according to a tweet from one of his No other land Codirectors, Yuval Abraham.