By Sama Marwan,
Palestinian director Hamdan Bilal, the director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, spoke out about the attack he suffered at the hands of Israeli settlers earlier this year.
Bilal described the experience as “the worst moment of my life,” saying, “I could hear my wife and children screaming and crying, calling out to me and asking the men to step away. Because of what was happening around me, my wife and I thought I was going to be killed, and we feared for what might happen to my family if I died.”
This comes after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) apologized for not supporting Palestinian director Hamdan Bilal, who was recently detained by Israeli settlers, despite winning an Oscar for his documentary.
The Academy apologized for not “acknowledging Mr. Bilal and the film by name,” after nearly 700 voting members, including several prominent actors, signed a letter condemning it.
More than 500 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), including actor Mark Ruffalo, director Ava DuVernay, and Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, signed an open letter condemning the Oscars’ lack of public support for Palestinian director Hamdan Bilal after his recent detention by Israeli authorities. This followed a statement issued by the Academy condemning the “harm to artists” without naming the artists it was referring to.
The letter criticizes what the signatories called the Academy leadership’s failure to defend Bilal, one of the directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land.
