
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued a statement to its members on Friday apologizing for not adequately expressing its support of the Palestinian Oscar-winning filmmaker Hamdan Ballal.
Ballal, who won this year's feature-length documentary Academy Award for co-directing the film No Other Land about the difficulties of life under Israeli occupation, said he was attacked on Monday by Israeli settlers. He was then arrested by the Israeli army. Israeli authorities released the director the following day, saying Ballal had been detained for hurling stones. The filmmaker and witnesses deny this accusation.
The Academy's initial statement in response to the alleged attack, sent out on Wednesday to its roughly 11,000 members, did not include Ballal's name or the title of his film.