In response to growing criticism over its initial reaction to the violent attack on Hamdan Ballal, the co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued an apology on Friday for not mentioning Ballal by name.
The incident in question occurred on Monday, when witnesses reported that Ballal was assaulted by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and later detained by the Israeli military. Despite the uproar from several film organizations and individuals condemning the attack, the academy initially released a general statement on Wednesday denouncing violence against artists for their work or viewpoints, without directly addressing Ballal.
Yuval Abraham, a journalist and co-director of “No Other Land,” criticized the academy’s initial reaction, likening it to a silence regarding the assault on Ballal. In an open letter signed by over 600 of the academy’s 11,000 members, including celebrities like Joaquin Phoenix, Olivia Colman, and Emma Thompson, the statement was deemed insufficient given the circumstances.
On Friday, following a meeting held by the academy’s board of governors, Bill Kramer, the academy CEO, and Janet Yang, its president, responded with a revised message. They expressed their regret and extended a direct apology to Ballal. “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,” the apology read. “We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances.”
Ballal, who had been detained for over 20 hours, was eventually released by Israeli forces. He, alongside two other Palestinians, was accused of throwing stones at a settler, allegations they refute. Upon his release, Ballal shared with the press that a settler had kicked him in the head “like a football” during an attack on his village.
Speaking from a West Bank hospital after his release, Ballal recounted, “I realized they were attacking me specifically. When they say ‘Oscar,’ you understand. When they say your name, you understand.”
“No Other Land,” an Israeli-Palestinian collaborative production, explores the challenges in Masafer Yatta, which was declared a live-fire training zone by the Israeli military in the 1980s, prompting orders for residents’ eviction. Despite these orders, approximately 1,000 residents have continued to live there, facing frequent military raids and demolitions of homes, water tanks, and farmland.
Despite not securing a U.S. distributor, “No Other Land” still garnered considerable attention and was self-released in theaters, achieving over $2 million in North American box office returns.