Over 600 Oscar voters have signed an open letter criticizing the leadership of the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its initial response to the recent assault and arrest of Oscar winner Hamdan Ballal.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Over 600 Oscar voters have signed an open letter criticizing the leadership of the Academy of
00:05Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its initial response to the recent assault and arrest of Oscar
00:10winner Hamdan Bilal. The 603 voting Academy members who signed the letter include Olivia Coleman,
00:17Javier Bardem, Mark Ruffalo, Ava DuVernay, Emma Thompson, Joaquin Phoenix, Tony Kushner,
00:24Richard Gere, Andrea Risborough, Todd Haynes, Sandra Oh, Penelope Cruz, Natasha Lyonne,
00:31Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, and Elizabeth Olsen, among many others.
00:36The letter reads in part,
00:38We stand in condemnation of the brutal assault and unlawful detention of Oscar-winning
00:42Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Bilal by settlers and Israeli forces in the West Bank.
00:47The statement goes on to say,
00:49Documentary filmmakers often expose themselves to extreme risks to enlighten the world.
00:54It is indefensible for an organization to recognize a film with an award in the first
00:58week of March and then fail to defend its filmmakers just a few weeks later.
01:03To win an Oscar is not an easy task. Most films in competition are buoyed by wide distribution
01:08and exorbitantly priced campaigns directed at voting members. For No Other Land, to win an
01:13Oscar without these advantages speaks to how important the film is to the voting membership.
01:18The letter concludes by saying,
01:19The targeting of Bilal is not just an attack on one filmmaker. It is an attack on all those
01:24who dare to bear witness and tell inconvenient truths. We will continue to watch over this film
01:29team. Winning an Oscar has put their lives in increasing danger. We will not mince words when
01:33the safety of fellow artists is at stake. The letter comes after Academy leaders Bill
01:38Kramer and Janet Yang put out a statement Wednesday that suggested the beating and
01:42arrest of Bilal is something Academy members will, quote, have many unique viewpoints on.
01:46Bilal, who won an Oscar for co-directing Best Documentary Feature Winner, No Other Land,
01:51was attacked and arrested by the Israeli military earlier this week during a confrontation with
01:55settlers that took place on the West Bank. He was released the next day.
01:59For more on this story and all the latest updates, go to THR.com.
02:03This is The Hollywood Reporter News.