Academy apologises for statement on ‘No Other Land’ co-director Hamdan Ballal’s attack
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(Credits: MUBI)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has issued an apology to No Other Land co-director and Oscar-winner Hamdan Ballal for failing to publicly support him after he was brutally assaulted and arrested by Israeli settlers in his hometown in the West Bank earlier this month.
Ballal’s co-director, Yuval Abraham, broke the news of the attack on X on March 24th, revealing that settlers had beaten the Palestinian filmmaker and that he had sustained serious injuries. Israeli soldiers then stopped the ambulance he was in and arrested him. A day later, Abraham revealed that Ballal had been released after being “handcuffed all night and beaten in a military base.”
After widespread condemnation from Abraham and many prominent members of the filmmaking industry, the Academy’s leaders, Bill Kramer and Janet Yang, finally broke their silence on March 27th, saying in a lengthy statement that “The Academy condemns harming or suppressing artists for their work or viewpoints.” However, it did not mention Ballal or No Other Land by name.
Now, two days later, and following intense pressure from more than 600 Academy members who signed an open letter to the organisation, Kramer and Yang have issued an apology, which Abraham posted on X: “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.”
The message continued: “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.”
Earlier this month, No Other Land won the Oscar for ‘Best Documentary Feature.’ It was made by a collective of Palestinian and Israeli artists and directed by Abraham, Basel Adra, and Ballal.
It traces both the destruction and displacement of Palestinian communities by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and the growing friendship between Abraham, an Israeli journalist, and Adra, a Palestinian activist.
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