Variety: 65+ Palestinian filmmakers: Hollywood ‘dehumanising’ Palestinians
Hany Abu Assad, Elia Suleiman and Farah Nabulsi among the signatories of the group’s first collaborative initiative since events of Oct. 7
By Variety Staff
Aug. 28 — A group of almost 70 Palestinian filmmakers — including two-time Oscar nominee Hany Abu Assad, acclaimed director Elia Suleiman and recent BAFTA winner Farah Nabulsi — have signed a strongly-worded letter in which they accuse Hollywood of “dehumanising” Palestinians on screen over decades, a factor they assert has helped enable the ongoing devastation in Gaza.
The letter — also signed by the likes of multiple-award winners including Michel Khleifi, Mai Masri, Najwa Najjar and the 22-strong list of directors behind the compilation of shorts “From Ground Zero,” Palestine‘s current submission to the Oscars — also expresses outrage and what it described as the “inhumanity and racism shown by some in the Western entertainment industry towards our people, even during this most difficult of times.”
The letter marks the first collaborative initiative by Palestinian filmmakers since the horrific events of Oct. 7, in which terror group Hamas — which rules Gaza — killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostages, and the ongoing retaliatory attacks on Gaza by Israel, which have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians (according to the Palestinian Health Authority) and led to a humanitarian crisis in the territory. …
