The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has sent a statement to members, apologizing for not publicly supporting No Other Land co-director Hamdan Ballal after his recent assault and arrest in the West Bank, in the village of Susiya, his hometown.
On Monday, Yuval Abraham — an Israeli director and one of the four directors behind No Other Land, which won the Oscar for best documentary feature film — claimed on X (formerly Twitter) that a group of settlers had beaten the Palestinian filmmaker, who members of the Israeli military later detained. Abraham said Ballal was released the following day but had “injuries in his head and stomach.”
Following the attack, Academy leaders Bill Kramer and Janet Yang released a statement on Wednesday suggesting that the beating and arrest of Ballal is something Academy members will have “many unique viewpoints” on, refusing to name the filmmaker. Kramer and Yang were quickly criticized by hundreds of Oscar voters, as well as a number of documentary branch members for their “lack of support.”
On Friday, Kramer and Yang sent a new statement to AMPAS members, writing, “On Wednesday, we sent a letter in response to reports of violence against Oscar winner Hamdan Ballal, co-director of No Other Land, connected to his artistic expression. We regret that we failed to directly acknowledge Mr. Ballal and the film by name.”
“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,” they continued. “We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances.”
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