Khaled Khatib, a Syrian cameraman on the Netflix doc, The White Helmets was barred from entering the U.S. and therefore couldn’t attend the Oscars.
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi boycotted the event because of the immigration ban.
Both men’s films won an Oscar, serving to highlight their plight further.
George and Amal Clooney have shown their support for now Oscar-winning documentary, The White Helmets which follows the first responders to daily airstrikes in Syria.
They attended a special Netflix screening, which was also Amal’s first public appearance with a baby bump.
The creators Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara gave Khatib a special shout-out in their acceptance speech. He was denied entry to the U.S. despite having the necessary visa.
George and Amal Clooney at a special Netflix screening of The White Helmets. Here, they pose with the documentary creators Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara.
Asghar Farhadi won the Oscar for ‘Best Foreign Language Film,’ for The Salesman.
But he wasn’t present at the glitzy event, choosing to boycott it instead.
It was in protest of Donald Trump’s executive order banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.
Farhadi was instead represented by Anousheh Ansari, the first Iranian and first Muslim woman in space, and Firouz Naderi, former director of Solar Systems Exploration at NASA.
They read his extremely powerful speech out to the audience:
“I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S. Dividing the world into the ‘us’ and ‘our enemies’ categories creates fear—a deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression. Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between us and others. An empathy which we need today more than ever.”
Farhadi also told about 10,000 protesters in London that solidarity against the travel ban holds the power to “stand up to fascism, be victorious in the face of extremism”.
There was a special screening of The Salesman in London’s Trafalgar Square, just hours before it won the prestigious gong.
We’re sure we’re going to have many more political statements before the night is out…
