Jewish filmmakers join call to protect ‘No Other Land’ team after director beaten, arrested
Maya Rudolph, James Schamus among signatories of petition saying treatment of Palestinian co-director Hamdan Ballal undermines ‘core values vital to democratic societies’
JTA — A number of Jewish filmmakers are among thousands who signed a petition in support of Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” who was arrested this week by Israeli troops.
Ballal was released Tuesday, a day after he was beaten by West Bank settlers before being arrested. He is one of four directors — two Israeli and two Palestinian — of “No Other Land,” which chronicles Israeli demolitions in a Palestinian West Bank village. The film won the Oscar for best documentary this year.
Since his release, Ballal has said he believes he was retaliated against because of his film, which an Israeli leader denounced as “sabotage.” As he was being beaten, he recalled to CNN, “At that moment, I thought because of my Oscar, they wanted to kill me.”
An online petition that initially called for Ballal’s release, and now calls to “Protect the No Other Land Film Team,” has climbed to more than 18,000 signatures since it was posted on Monday.
“Such treatment of an internationally acclaimed filmmaker gravely undermines artistic freedom, human rights, and freedom of speech — core values vital to democratic societies,” the petition says.
The petition was launched by a Jewish filmmaker, Lee Hirsch. Among the signatories are Jewish actors and filmmakers including Maya Rudolph, Fisher Stevens, James Schamus, Liz Garbus and Daniel Chalfen.
At least two of the signatories have been involved with documentaries that, like “No Other Land,” spotlight tensions in Israel or the discourse surrounding it. Chalfen is the producer of “Israelism,” the 2023 documentary about Jewish generational divides over Israel. And Alex Gibney gained attention last year for producing “The Bibi Files,” about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial.
Schamus, the former CEO of Focus Features, is also a professor at Columbia University. In addition to signing the petition, he recently lambasted the school’s response to the Trump administration’s plan to cut funding over objections to campus antisemitism. He has also been a vocal critic of Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza.
The majority of the petition’s signatories are not Jewish. They include Ava DuVernay, whose most recent film depicts the Holocaust by exploring caste, and Guy Pearce, who was nominated for an Oscar this year for his appearance in the post-Holocaust film “The Brutalist.” Pearce has become one of Hollywood’s most outspoken pro-Palestinian advocates since the start of the war.
The Times of Israel Community.