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The Academy of Motion Pictures has apologized after issuing a statement seemingly intended to address the detention of Oscar-winning No Other Land director Hamdan Ballal without mentioning either the film or the filmmaker by name.
That initial statement was published on Wednesday and was subsequently widely criticized, with 690 Academy members, including Mark Ruffalo and Olivia Colman, signing an open letter condemning the organization for its silence.
Variety reports that Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang sent out a new statement to members today, which read: “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. 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.”
Kramer and Yang had reportedly convened an emergency meeting with Academy leadership on Friday morning to discuss their response to the backlash.
The open letter criticizing the Academy was also signed by the likes of Joaquin Phoenix, Riz Ahmed, Penélope Cruz and Emma Thompson.
It read: “On 26 March 2025, the leadership of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences emailed its membership a statement with the subject line, ‘Our Global Film Community.’
“The statement was ostensibly responding to the detention of Palestinian filmmaker and 2025 Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winner Hamdan Ballal, one of the directors of No Other Land, although it failed to mention either Ballal or the film by name, nor did it describe the events it was responding to.
“The statement by Bill Kramer and Janet Yang fell far short of the sentiments this moment calls for. Therefore we are issuing our own statement, which speaks for the undersigned members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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“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.
“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.
“To win an Oscar is not an easy task. Most films in competition are buoyed by wide distribution and exorbitantly priced campaigns directed at voting members. 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.
“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.”
On Monday, Ballal was reportedly beaten by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank before being arrested by the Israeli military. He was released by Israeli authorities on Tuesday.
Ballal and his co-directors Yuval Abraham, Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli director Rachel Szor, won the 2025 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for their film No Other Land, which depicts the destruction of the occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers and the alliance that develops between Adra and Abraham.
