Following the news that Academy Award-winning director Hamdan Billal had been assaulted in the West Bank, the Academy released what many described as a generic statement acknowledging that their 11,000 members had a diversity of viewpoints and saying that they did not approve of “harming artists.”
“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 letter reads. “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.”
Academy President Janet Yang and CEO Bill Yang signed the letter, which came after almost 700 members of the Academy, including Mark Ruffalo and Ava DeVernay, signed a letter condemning the original statement.
“We stand in condemnation of the brutal assault and unlawful detention of Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal by settlers and Israeli forces in the West Bank,” the letter from Academy members read. “To win an Oscar is not an easy task. Most films in competition are buoyed by wide distribution and exorbitantly priced campaigns… For ‘No Other Land’ to win an Oscar without these advantages speaks to how important the film is to the voting membership. The targeting of Ballal is not just an attack on one filmmaker — it is an attack on all those who dare to bear witness and tell inconvenient truths.”
Ballal was detained by authorities earlier in this week after he was attacked by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. He was released after being taken into custody by Israeli Defense Forces. “They continue attacking me for 15–20 minutes. I bleed from everywhere… I feel pain in every part of my body,” he told ABC News of the attack.
