Controversy erupts over Jonathan Glazer’s oscar speech, denounced by Michael Rapaport and several jews in hollywood
The director of “The Zone of Interest”, Jonathan Glazer, who won Best International Feature at the Oscars has angered many jews with this acceptance speech.
During his note of thanks he connected the film’s theme of dehumanisation to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
“Our film shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst,” said Glazer. “Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation, which has led to conflict for so many innocent people-whether the victims of October 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza-all the victims of this dehumanisation, how do we resist?”
The film “The Zone of Interest” shows the life of a Nazi commander’s family living near the horrifying Auschwitz concentration camps and won two Academy Awards, despite controversy surrounding Glazer’s speech.
Glazer’s speech faced severe backlash from various A-list celebrities like Debra Messing, Julianna Margulies, and Michael Rapaport, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tovah Feldshuh, Lisa Edelstein, Brett Gelman; top producer Amy Pascal; and filmmakers Eli Roth and Rod Lurie.
How did the executive producers of Jonathan Glazer’s film express disagreement with his views?
Even one of the films’ executive producers, Danny Cohen, disagreed with Glazer. Simply saying, “I just fundamentally disagree with Jonathan.”
“It’s really important to recognize it’s upset a lot of people and a lot of people feel upset and angry about it. And I understand that anger frankly,” Cohen said on the Unholy podcast.
“The war and the continuation of the war is the responsibility of Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization which continues to hold and abuse the hostages which doesn’t use its tunnels to protect the innocent civilians of Gaza but uses it to hide themselves and allow Palestinians to die. I think the war is tragic and awful and the loss of civilian life is awful, but I blame Hamas for that.”
