The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences apologized Friday for withholding explicit support for the Oscar-winning co-director of documentary “No Other Land” Hamdan Ballal after he was beaten and detained in the West Bank last week.
The film organization had sent an email to its members on Wednesday condemning violence. That email did not name the documentary’s title or the name of its co-director, and it drew widespread condemnation from members, around 700 of whom at the time of publishing signed an open letter on Friday morning that read, in part, “It is indefensible for an organization to recognize a film with an award in the first week of March, and then fail to defend its filmmakers just a few weeks later.”
On Friday afternoon, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang sent an email to their nearly 11,000 members that read, “On Wednesday, we sent a letter in response to reports of violence against Oscar winner Hamdan Ballal, 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. We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances.”
A source with knowledge of the Academy’s actions said the Friday statement was in the works before the release of the members’ petition, but was delayed until the organization could convene a meeting of its 55-member Board of Governors. It is not known whether the board was consulted before Kramer and Yang sent out the initial email on Wednesday.
The original email, which was also signed by Kramer and Yang, was in part a condemnation of violence — but in addition to not naming Ballal, it made a point of justifying the Academy’s reluctance to speak out on “social, political and economic events.”
“We fundamentally believe that film has the power to enlighten global audiences and highlight different perspectives – and we encourage our members to use their art to do so,” the original email read, in part. “The Academy condemns harming or suppressing artists foe their work or their viewpoints.
“We are living in a time of profound change, marked by conflict and uncertainty – across the globe, in the U.S., and within our own industry. Understandably, we are often asked to speak on behalf of the Academy in response to social, political, and economic events. In these instances, it is important to note that the Academy represents close to 11,000 global members with many unique viewpoints.”
Many Academy members were outraged by the suggestion that the phrase “many unique viewpoints” could justify the Academy’s refusal to condemn a specific act of violence against a recent Oscar winner.
“I had chalked up The Academy’s failure to speak out in support of a recent Oscar winner being beaten and abducted, I assumed events had happened too fast for you to take action,” wrote Documentary Branch member AJ Schnack in an email to Kramer and Yang that he later decided to make public. “I am shocked and angry that you are now letting us, your members, know that you view the abduction and beating of a recent honoree as something that members will have ‘many unique viewpoints’ of. With respect, it’s a truly heinous suggestion.
” … This cannot be the way forward if The Academy truly cares about artistic freedoms and our rights as filmmakers.”
Hallal’s co-director, Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham, responded to the Academy’s inaction on social media, writing, “Sadly, the U.S. 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.
“The European Academy voiced support, as did countless other award groups and festivals. Several U.S. Academy members — especially in the documentary branch — pushed for a statement, but it was ultimately refused,” he added. “We were told that because other Palestinians were beaten up in the settler attack, it could be considered unrelated to the film, so they felt no need to respond.”
Hallal, a Palestinian director who lives in the West Bank near the village of Susiya, said he was beaten by Jewish settlers and detained by Israeli forces on suspicion of throwing stones and damaging property, which he denied doing.
“I feel I will die, because this attack was so hard, I bleed from everywhere,” Hallal told ABC News on Thursday.
Steve Pond contributed to this report.
