Academy apologises for not defending Palestinian Oscar winner after assault claims
The US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences apologised on Friday for failing to defend an Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker who said he was attacked by Israeli settlers.
The group, which hosts and awards the Oscars each year, wrote to members after movie stars including Joaquin Phoenix, Penelope Cruz and Richard Gere had slammed its initially muted response to the incident.
The Academy “condemns violence of this kind anywhere in the world” and its leaders “abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances,” the letter said.
Hamdan Ballal co-directed No Other Land, which won best documentary at this year’s Academy Awards.
This week, he said he had been assaulted by settlers and detained at gunpoint by soldiers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Unlike multiple other prominent filmmaker groups, the US-based Academy initially did not issue a statement.