The top brass at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued an apology today for not mentioning Oscar-winning No Other Land co-director Hamdan Ballan by name in its initial response to his West Bank attack and detention on Monday.
“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,” AMPAS CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang wrote to members. “We regret that we failed to directly acknowledge Mr. Ballal and the film by name.”
They added: “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. We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances.”
As Deadline reported exclusively, the Academy’s Board of Governors held an urgent special meeting today to discuss the fallout over its midweek response to the attack on No Other Land co-director Hamdan Ballal. On Wednesday, Kramer and Yang signed a letter sent to members condemning “harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints,” but they failed to note the attack on Ballal specifically.
No Other Land co-helmer Yuval Abraham saw that omission as a slight to Ballal, and he wrote that “US Academy, which awarded us an Oscar three weeks ago, declined to publicly support Hamdan Ballal while he was beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers and settlers.”
Abraham posted on X: “While Hamdan was clearly targeted for making No Other Land (he recalled soldiers joking about the Oscar as they tortured him), he was also targeted for being Palestinian—like countless others every day who are disregarded. This, it seems, gave the Academy an excuse to remain silent when a filmmaker they honored, living under Israeli occupation, needed them the most. It’s not too late to change this stance. Even now, issuing a statement condemning the attack on Hamdan and the Masafer Yatta community would send a meaningful message and serve as a deterrent for the future.”
MORE TO COME…
