Academy members support ‘No Other Land’ team via open letter

The Israeli and Palestinian directors behind “No Other Land” aren’t alone in their disappointment in the film academy’s lackluster response to the recent attack on and detainment of Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal.

A letter touting support from 600 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — including multiple Oscar winners — condemned the Oscars’ governing body, writing that its leadership “fell far short of the sentiments this moment calls for.” The letter, obtained Friday by The Times, decries the vague internal missive the academy sent to its members Wednesday.

Wednesday’s notice, penned by Academy Chief Executive Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang, acknowledged they had been “asked to speak on behalf of the Academy in response to social, political, and economic events” but reminded readers “the Academy represents close to 11,000 global members with many unique viewpoints.” Though the leaders said the academy “condemns harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints,” it did not mention “No Other Land” or name co-director Ballal, who was detained Monday after he was brutally attacked by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, one of Ballal’s “No Other Land” co-directors, tweeted the missive in its entirety early Thursday and doubled down on his previous criticisms about the academy’s silence. He condemned the academy for linking its “silence on Hamdan’s assault” to its alleged “need to respect ‘unique viewpoints.’”

In Friday’s open letter, hundreds of academy members across various divisions — including documentary filmmakers, actors, editors and producers — stood united in their viewpoint: “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 continued: “As artists, we depend on our ability to tell stories without reprisals. Documentary filmmakers often expose themselves to extreme risks to enlighten the world. 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.”

The letter also noted that “No Other Land” won the Oscar for documentary feature earlier this month without the promotional advantages that come with a distributor. Monday’s settler attack — one of the latest assaults on Ballal’s village of Susiya in the Masafer Yatta area — “is an attack on all those who dare witness and tell inconvenient truths,” the letter said.

The missive concluded: “We will continue to watch over this film team. Winning an Oscar has put their lives in increasing danger, and we will not mince words when the safety of fellow artists is at stake.”

Actors Olivia Colman, Riz Ahmed, Joaquin Phoenix, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Susan Sarandon and “Zone of Interest” filmmaker Jonathan Glazer were among the letter’s Oscar-winning signatories. The Times learned Friday that a group of concerned academy members shared the letter with their colleagues, directly inviting them to sign. The Times also learned that signatories’ names have been checked and verified by the team that is periodically updating the letter to reflect additional supporters.

A representative for the academy did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Israeli military and police detained Ballal on Monday evening after a group of settlers descended on the Palestinian village of Susiya as its residents broke their daylong Ramadan fast, according to the Associated Press. Ballal’s wife, Lamia Ballal, told the AP that she heard her husband being beaten outside their home and screaming “I’m dying.” She said she saw three men in uniform using the butts of their rifles and that the attention surrounding “No Other Land’s” Oscar win led settlers to “attack us more.”

An IDF spokesperson earlier this week said in a statement that the “violent confrontation” involved “mutual rock-hurling between Palestinians and Israelis” and accused people it referred to as “terrorists” of throwing rocks toward Israeli military and police. Ballal was one of three Palestinian men detained in connection to the incident. An Israeli allegedly involved in the incident was also detained.

Ballal was released Tuesday from an Israeli police station with bruises on his face and blood on his clothes. He told the Associated Press upon his release that during detainment he heard “the voices of soldiers laughing about me” and told the Guardian the Monday attack “was a revenge for our movie.”

Earlier this month, the Oscars celebrated Ballal, Abraham, Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli filmmaker Rachel Szor for “No Other Land.” The documentary provides a harrowing account of the demolition of Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta and displacement of Palestinian communities to build Israeli military training grounds.

News of the members’ letter spread as Deadline reported that the academy’s board of governors had gathered Friday morning to address the controversy surrounding their response.