https://arab.news/jd3ze
- Yuval Abraham accuses academy of failing to directly acknowledge incident, mention Ballal by name
- In a letter, the academy said that while it 鈥榗ondemns harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints,鈥� it does not publicly comment on 鈥榮ocial, political, and economic events鈥�
LONDON: 鈥淣o Other Land鈥� co-director Yuval Abraham has condemned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its response to the violent attack on his Palestinian co-director, Hamdan Ballal.
The Israeli filmmaker and journalist accused the academy of failing to directly acknowledge the incident, noting that its statement did not mention Ballal by name.
This marks the second time this week that Abraham has publicly criticized the academy. Earlier, he denounced the institution for remaining silent on the attack, in which Israeli settlers assaulted Ballal before he was detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Monday.
鈥淎fter our criticism, the academy鈥檚 leaders sent out this email to members explaining their silence on Hamdan鈥檚 assault: they need to respect 鈥榰nique viewpoints,鈥欌€� Abraham wrote on X.
The academy鈥檚 letter stated that while it 鈥渃ondemns harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints,鈥� it does not publicly comment on 鈥渟ocial, political, and economic events鈥� despite frequent requests to do so. 鈥淚n these instances, it is important to note that the Academy represents close to 11,000 global members with many unique viewpoints,鈥� the statement read.
Abraham pointed out the contrast between this response and the academy鈥檚 past actions, specifically its strong condemnation of Iran鈥檚 detention of filmmakers such as Jafar Panahi in 2011. 鈥淐ompare this,鈥� he wrote, 鈥渨hich didn鈥檛 even name Hamdan, to the Academy鈥檚 rightfully strong position when it鈥檚 the Iranian government oppressing filmmakers.鈥�
The academy has yet to issue a further response.
Ballal, one of the documentary鈥檚 four directors 鈥� two Israeli and two Palestinian 鈥� was released from Israeli detention on Tuesday.
In an interview with The Guardian, he described his ordeal, saying, 鈥淚 thought I was going to die鈥� when Israeli soldiers aided the settlers who attacked him outside his home in Susya, a village in the Masafer Yatta area of the West Bank.
He also claimed he was beaten while in detention, calling the assault 鈥渞evenge for our movie.鈥�
The global film community swiftly condemned the attack and arrest. The US-based International Documentary Association posted a message on Instagram demanding Ballal鈥檚 immediate release. The Berlin Film Festival, where 鈥淣o Other Land鈥� had its premiere and won the award for best documentary last year, called the incident 鈥渧ery distressing.鈥�