During his acceptance speech at the Oscars, director Jonathan Glazer emphasized the conflict in Gaza, stating that he rejects the notion of his “Jewishness and the Holocaust being appropriated by an occupation.”
His film “The Zone of Interest,” which delves into Auschwitz and the Holocaust, clinched the award for Best International Film.
Glazer highlighted that the casualties in both Israel and Gaza were victims of “dehumanization.”
Notable personalities, such as Billie Eilish, adorned pins advocating for a ceasefire.
The awards ceremony commenced slightly later than scheduled on Sunday, as protesters, also calling for a ceasefire, obstructed traffic outside the venue.
According to reports from US media, approximately 1,000 individuals participated in the demonstration outside the Dolby Theatre. A fleet of limousines en route to the venue was halted by the demonstrators, leading some celebrities, including Lily Gladstone from “Killers of the Flower Moon,” to abandon their vehicles.
Glazer said it was an “honour” to win the award – the UK’s first win for the category. The German-language film, which earned a total of five Oscar nominations, focuses on the family of Auschwitz’s longest-serving commandant, Rudolf Höss.
Höss ran the Auschwitz concentration camp between 1940 and 1943. An estimated 1.1 million people were murdered there – one million of whom were Jews.
After thanking those who worked with him on the film, Glazer – reading from a pre-written speech – said: “All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present, not to say look what they did then, rather what we do now.
“Our film shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst. It’s shaped all of our past and present.”
The director, who is Jewish, added: “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?”
Palestinians in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem have lived under Israeli occupation since 1967.
The director previously told the BBC that his film “looks into dark corners of human capacity”, and is relevant today.
“I think what’s inside this film is what we do to each other as human beings,” he said. “We see others as lesser than ourselves, different from ourselves. Somehow, step by step, that leads to atrocity.
Reminder: My knowledge cut-off date is January 2022.
Celebrities such as Billie Eilish, actor Mark Ruffalo, and Ramy Youssef from “Poor Things” sported pins on the red carpet, advocating for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
This pin-wearing initiative followed an open letter signed by nearly 400 artists addressed to US President Joe Biden.
Among the signatories were Bradley Cooper and America Ferrera, both of whom were nominated for awards this year.
The recent conflict escalated after Hamas gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7, resulting in approximately 1,200 casualties. Hamas took around 250 hostages back into the Gaza Strip, with many still held there.
In response, Israel launched a massive bombardment and invasion of Gaza, aiming to eliminate Hamas. According to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, over 30,900 people have been killed in Gaza since then.
The UN has cautioned that famine in the Gaza Strip is “almost inevitable,” and children are succumbing to starvation.