EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has learned the Academy’s board of governors is meeting in extraordinary session this morning to confront a deepening crisis over its response to the beating and detention of Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, one of the directors of No Other Land.
As that meeting nears an 11am Pacific Time start, Deadline can report a new statement has been signed by leading members of the Academy – including actors Olivia Colman, Joaquin Phoenix, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Emma Thompson, and directors Ava DuVernay, Errol Morris, Adam McKay, Jonathan Glazer, and writer Tony Kushner – that demands a more forceful response to Ballal’s treatment by Israeli authorities. Israeli police and military allegedly seized Ballal as he was heading to a hospital to seek medical attention after he was attacked by Israeli settlers outside his home in the occupied West Bank village of Susiya earlier this week. While in custody, Israeli authorities allegedly assaulted Ballal and mocked him for winning an Oscar before releasing him the next day.
The new letter, which has been signed by more than 600 Academy members representing every AMPAS branch, faults Academy President Janet Yang and CEO Bill Kramer for issuing a belated and tepid letter regarding Ballal’s assault, which did not mention his name nor the film’s title. (The Academy leadership’s letter, circulated privately to members, only came after Yuval Abraham, an Israeli co-director of No Other Land, publicly blasted the institution for failing to speak out on the matter).
The letter reads, “On 26 March 2025, the leadership of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences emailed its membership a statement with the subject line, ‘Our Global Film Community.’ The statement was ostensibly responding to the detention of Palestinian filmmaker and 2025 Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winner Hamdan Ballal, one of the directors of No Other Land, although it failed to mention either Ballal or the film by name, nor did it describe the events it was responding to.
“The statement by Bill Kramer and Janet Yang fell far short of the sentiments this moment calls for. Therefore we are issuing our own statement, which speaks for the undersigned members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.”
The letter offers a resolute response to Ballal’s treatment unlike the one signed by Yang and Kramer. “We stand in condemnation of the brutal assault and unlawful detention of Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal by settlers and Israeli forces in the West Bank,” it reads. The letter goes on to say, “As artists, we depend on our ability to tell stories without reprisals. Documentary filmmakers often expose themselves to extreme risks to enlighten the world. It is indefensible for an organization to recognize a film with an award in the first week of March, and then fail to defend its filmmakers just a few weeks later.”
The letter further states, “The targeting of Ballal is not just an attack on one filmmaker—it is an attack on all those who dare to bear witness and tell inconvenient truths.” Read the full text and see the signatories below.
Yang and Kramer’s note on Wednesday only obliquely referenced Ballal, saying, “The Academy condemns harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints.” It went on to say, “We are living in a time of profound change, marked by conflict and uncertainty — across the globe, in the U.S., and within our own industry. Understandably, we are often asked to speak on behalf of the Academy in response to social, political, and economic events. In these instances, it is important to note that the Academy represents close to 11,000 global members with many unique viewpoints.”
Deadline has spoken to members of the executive committee of the Academy’s documentary branch, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. They tell us they found Yang and Kramer’s letter “embarrassing and shameful.”
“It was really missing the mark,” one executive committee member told Deadline. “We just all found it completely horrifying. And that generated many, many people reaching out and writing letters just directly to Bill and Janet to say, ‘This doesn’t represent us. This is horrifying. How could you issue this kind of statement?’ And especially because it did not mention his name or the name of the film, which felt just like adding insult to injury.”
CPH:DOX, the renowned documentary film festival now underway in Copenhagen, issued a statement condemning Balla’s treatment in custody, as did the European Film Academy, and the International Documentary Association.
As Deadline has previously reported, the Motion Picture Academy rarely makes public statements about detentions or instances of violence against Academy winners, but in 2011 did call for the release of multiple detained Iranian filmmakers.
No Other Land is a directed by two Palestinian filmmakers – Ballal and Basel Adra – and two Israeli filmmakers – Abraham and Rachel Szor. It offers a ground-level view of life for Palestinians in the rural West Bank area of Masafer Yatta, who live under an expulsion order from the Israel Defense Forces, which claims their land as a military training zone. It shows the anguish of Palestinians seeing their homes and schools demolished, as well as unprovoked attacks by Israeli settlers.
Here is the letter in full and its signatories as of Friday morning Pacific time. It still is being circulated, so others are expected to add their names:
We stand in condemnation of the brutal assault and unlawful detention of Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal by settlers and Israeli forces in the West Bank.
As artists, we depend on our ability to tell stories without reprisals. Documentary filmmakers often expose themselves to extreme risks to enlighten the world. It is indefensible for an organization to recognize a film with an award in the first week of March, and then fail to defend its filmmakers just a few weeks later.
To win an Oscar is not an easy task. Most films in competition are buoyed by wide distribution and exorbitantly priced campaigns directed at voting members. For “No Other Land” to win an Oscar without these advantages speaks to how important the film is to the voting membership.
The targeting of Ballal is not just an attack on one filmmaker—it is an attack on all those who dare to bear witness and tell inconvenient truths.
We will continue to watch over this film team. Winning an Oscar has put their lives in increasing danger, and we will not mince words when the safety of fellow artists is at stake.
Sincerely,
Marjan Safinia, Documentary
Julia Bacha, Documentary
Alison Klayman, Documentary
Mark Ruffalo, Actors
James Schamus, Writers
Christine Vachon, Producers
Ava DuVernay, Directors
Alfonso Cuaron, Directors
Jim Jarmusch, Directors
Olivia Colman, Actors
Sandra Hueller, Actors
Julie Huntsinger, Executives
Riz Ahmed, Actors
Ruth Negga, Actors
Javier Bardem, Actors
Penèlope Cruz, Actors
Boots Riley, Directors
Natasha Lyonne, Actors
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Actors
Peter Sarsgaard, Actors
Emma Thompson, Actors
Tony Kushner, Writers
Joaquin Phoenix, Actors
Eliza Hittman, Writers
Richard Gere, Actors
Adam McKay, Directors
Jonathan Glazer, Directors
James Wilson, Producers
Raul Castillo, Actors
Marisa Tomei, Actors
Laura Poitras, Documentary
John Cusack, Actors
Susan Sarandon, Actors
Peter Ramsey, Animation
Alma Harel, Director
Andrew Ahn, Directors
Todd Haynes, Directors
Michael Almereyda, Directors
Andrea Riseborough, Actors
Sam Worthington, Actors
Albert Berger, Producers
Hawk Koch, Producers
Marcus Hu, Executives
Elhum Shakerifar, Documentary
Brett Story, Documentary
Fisher Stevens, Documentary
Ed Lachman, Cinematographers
Rachel Morrison, Cinematographers
Joshua Oppenheimer, Documentary
Simon Chinn, Documentary
Annemarie Jacir, Directors
Errol Morris, Directors
Kirsten Johnson, Documentary
Lee Hirsch, Documentary
Keya Khayatian, Artist Representatives
Scott Macaulay, Producers
Julie Goldman, Documentary
Cherien Dabis, Directors
Farah Nabulsi, Short Films
Peter Hedges, Writers
Alex Gibney, Documentary
Edher Campos, Producers
Kristi Jacobson, Documentary
David Teague, Documentary
Marlon West, Animation
Mariana Oliva, Documentary
John Hoffman, Documentary
Geeta Gandbhir, Documentary
Dan Geller, Documentary
Roger Ross Williams, Documentary
Peter Nicks, Documentary
Heloisa Passos, Documentary
Mirra Bank, Documentary
Laura Nix, Documentary
Liz Garbus, Documentary
Joan Churchill, Documentary
Violet Feng, Documentary
Jihan Robinson, Documentary
Don Bernier, Documentary
JT (Orinne JT) Takagi, Documentary
Carla Gutierrez, Documentary
Yance Ford, Documentary
Tabitha Jackson, Documentary
Nigel Noble, Documentary
Joslyn Barnes, Documentary
Stephen Kijak, Documentary
Sonya Childress, Documentary
Carl Deal, Documentary
Robert Greenwald, Documentary
Fenton Bailey, Documentary
Yoruba Richen, Documentary
Pedro Kos, Documentary
Grace Lee, Documentary
PJ Raval, Documentary
Connie Field, Documentary
Gary Byungseok Kam, Documentary
Ramona Diaz, Documentary
Rob Epstein, Documentary
Diane Becker, Documentary
Nina Menkes, Directing
Margaret Brown, Documentary
Laura Gabbert, Documentary
Karen Goodman, Documentary
Angela Tucker, Documentary
Rodney Evans, Documentary
Aviva Slesin, Documentary
Caroline Waterlow, Documentary
Amy Ziering, Documentary
Helena Solberg, Documentary
Davis Guggenheim, Documentary
Lisa Cortes, Documentary
Kirstine Barfod, Documentary
Peter J. Miller, Documentary
Jackie Glover, Documentary
Marilyn Ness, Documentary
Joanna Natasegara, Documentary
Sonia Kennebeck, Documentary
Jim LeBrecht, Documentary
Catherine Gund, Documentary
Skye Fitzgerald, Documentary
Juliana Rojas, Directors
Sabine Hoffman, Film Editors
Nick Higgins, Documentary
Ferne Pearlstein, Documentary
Eva Orner, Documentary
Anne Alvergue, Documentary
Lisa Remington, Documentary
Renee Tajima-Peña, Documentary
Amy Hobby, Documentary
Donald Young, Documentary
Pietra Brettkelly, Documentary
Steven Bognar, Documentary
Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Documentary
Ditsi Carolino, Documentary
Alexandra Johnes, Documentary
Amy Kaufman, Producers
Carol Dysinger, Documentary
Natalia Almada, Documentary
Steve James, Documentary
Chris Tashima, Short Films
Lindsay Utz, Documentary
Lisa Valencia-Svensson, Documentary
Jenni Wolfson, Documentary
Julie Cohen, Documentary
Clay Tweel, Documentary
Bernardo Ruiz, Documentary
Matthew Hamachek, Documentary
Leah Marino, Documentary
Judith Helfand, Documentary
Marcia Smith, Documentary
Susan Youssef, Directors
Peter Gilbert, Documentary
Julian Cautherley, Documentary
Stanley Nelson, Documentary
Nels Bangerter, Documentary
Flavia de Souza, Documentary
Jonathan Chinn, Documentary
Linda Goldstein Knowlton, Documentary
Langdon Page, Film Editors
Robert Greene, Documentary
Francisco Bello, Documentary
Claire Aguilar, Documentary
Per Kirkegaard Pedersen, Documentary
Matthew Heineman, Documentary
Nicole Stott, Documentary
Sophie Barthes, Writers
Kristi Zea, Production Design
Rodrigo Teixeira, Producers
Xan Parker, Documentary
Lesley Chilcott, Documentary
Jon Alpert, Documentary
Rory Kennedy, Documentary
Ryan White, Documentary
Pratibha Parmar, Documentary
Laura Karpman, Music
Deborah Dickson, Documentary
Amanda Micheli, Documentary
Cristina Ibarra, Documentary
Jenna Rosher, Documentary
Caitrin Rogers, Documentary
Ilda Santiago, Executives
Steve Maing, Documentary
Brian Knappenberger, Documentary
Maryam Keshavarz, Writers
Jeanie Finlay, Documentary
Amy Grey, Marketing and Public Relations
Susan Froemke, Documentary
Jeffrey Wolf, Film Editors
Jeff Reichert, Documentary
Susan Margolin, Documentary
Joe Berlinger, Documentary
Brian Johnson, Documentary
Yung Chang, Documentary
Tom Donahue, Documentary
Ricardo Acosta, Documentary
Candy Kugel, Animation
Christine O’Malley, Documentary
Michael Taylor, Film Editors
Malgosia Turzanska, Costume Design
Deborah Kaufman, Documentary
Michael Taylor, Film Editors
Sara Dosa, Documentary
Christopher Clements, Documentary
Leanne Pooley, Documentary
Kimberly Reed, Documentary
Julie Anderson, Documentary
Waad Alkateab, Documentary
Beth Levison, Documentary
Mary Manhardt, Documentary
Nancy Richardson, Film Editors
Nancy Schwartzman, Documentary
Heino Deckert, Documentary
Jessica Yu, Documentary
Alice Henty, Documentary
Sari Gilman, Documentary
Ivy Meeropol, Documentary
Heidi Ewing, Documentary
Sandi DuBowski, Documentary
Gordon Quinn, Documentary
Ricki Stern, Documentary
Dayna Goldfine, Documentary
Dallas Brennan Rexer, Documentary
Daniel Chalfen, Documentary
Alma Martinez, Actors
Wendy Ettinger, Documentary
Irene Taylor, Documentary
Vania Catani, Producers
Ross Kauffman, Documentary
Doug Block, Documentary
Alex Rivera, Directors
Lyn Goldfarb, Documentary
Sarah Adina Smith, Writers
Sean Fine, Documentray
Enat Sidi, Documentary
Andrea Nix, Documentary
Kara Magsanoc Alikpala, Documentary
Dan Cogan, Documentary
Hao Zhou, Documentary
Doug Blush, Documentary
S. Leo Chiang, Documentary
Ruy Garcia, Sound
Rintu Thomas, Documentary
Alê Abreu, Animation
Mark Becker, Documentary
Alysa Nahmias, Documentary
Amanda McBaine, Documentary
Tia Lessin, Documentary
Eliza Paley, Sound
Frances Reid, Documentary
Keiko Deguchi, Film Editors
Deborah Hoffmann, Documentary
Erika Cohn, Documentary
R.J. Cutler, Documentary
Bruce Cohen, Producers
Seungjun Yi, Documentary
Cynthia Wade, Documentary
Tony Martinez, Sound
Gini Reticker, Documentsry
Sushmit Ghosh, Documentary
Greg Pak, Short Films
Carlos Cuarón, Writers
Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Documentary
AJ Schnack, Documentary
Bob Richman, Documentary
Amy Foote, Film Editors
Pola Rapaport, Documentary
Taura Stinson, Music
Baby Ruth Villarama, Documentary
Melanie Miller, Documentary
Vinnie Malhotra, Documentary
Catherine George, Costume Design
Veronica Selver, Documentary
Azin Samari, Documentary
Julie Parker Benello, Documentary
Brenda Coughlin, Documentary
Missy Cohen, Music
Courtney Sexton, Documentary
Geof Bartz, Documentary
Jessica Kingdon, Documentary
Toby Shimin, Documentary
Ezra Edelman, Documentary
Chai Vasarhelyi, Documentary
Josh Penn, Documentary
Opal H. Bennett, Documentary
Megan Mylan, Documentary
Lisa Leeman, Documentary
Wolfgang Held, Documentary
Meg LeFauve, Writers
Michèle Stephenson, Documentary
Shana Hagan, Documentary
Yael Melamede, Documentary
Stephanie Lowry, Music
Dan Krauss, Documentary
Mark Jonathan Harris, Documentary
Jian Fan, Documentary
Mark Lewis, Documentary
Elizabeth Mirzaei, Documentary
Andrij Parekh, Cinematographers
Gulistan Mirzaei, Documentary
Miriam Biderman, Sound
Marty Syjuco, Documentary
Eden Wurmfeld, Documentary
Michael Chin, Documentary
Caroline Libresco, Documentary
Glenfield Payne, Sound
Katja Esson, Documentary
Jennifer Tiexiera, Documentary
Dan Lindsay, Documentary
Andrew Rossi, Documentary
Erin Casper, Documentary
Jeff Orlowski-Yang, Documentary
Stacey Reiss, Documentary
Judy Kibinge, Documentary
Miao Wang, Documentary
William Couturie, Documentary
Alexandra Shiva, Documentary
Martina Radwan, Documentary
Dale Mayeda, Animation
Omar Mullick, Documentary
Chris White, Documentary
Ina Fichman, Documentary
Lana Wilson, Documentary
Deborah Shaffer, Documentary
Kim Roberts, Documentary
Stephanie Wang-Breal, Documentary
David Magdael, Marketing and Public Relations
Richard Rowley, Documentary
Marina Zenovich, Documentary
Oren Jacoby, Documentary
Toni Kamau, Documentary
Kim A. Snyder, Documentary
James Mansfield, Animation
Rick Farmiloe, Animation
Susan Bedusa, Documentary
Mariestela Fernandez, Costume Designers
Lauren Greenfield, Documentary
Chiemi Karasawa, Documentary
Annie Sundberg, Documentary
Amit Madheshiya, Documentary
Morgan Neville, Documentary
Susan Lacy, Documentary
Katrin Pors, Producers
Doug Pray, Documentary
Steven Markovitz, Documentary
Nick Broomfield, Documentary
Maureen Gosling, Documentary
Moses Bwayo, Documentary
Nisha Pahuja, Documentary
Jehane Noujaim, Documentary
Josephine Decker, Writers
Bob Moore, Documentary
Evgeny Afineevsky, Documentary
Elise Pearlstein, Documentary
Diana El Jeiroudi, Documentary
Aliona van der Horst, Documentary
Anand Patwardhan, Documentary
Nicole Newnham, Documentary
Kirby Dick, Documentary
Todd Boekelheide, Documentary
James Longley, Documentary
Katrin Pors, Producers
Rachel Boynton, Documentary
Salem Brahimi, Documentary
Robert Hillmann, Documentary
Thomas Miller, Documentary
Asako Fujioka, Documentary
Yael Bitton, Documentary
Quyen Tran, Cinematographers
Gonzalo Maza, Writers
Ava Berkofsky, Cinematographers
Beadie Finzi, Documentary
Ilja Roomans, Documentary
Anna Boden, Directors
Sigrid Dyekjaer, Documentary
Susanne Guggenberger, Documentary
M Siam, Documentary
Don Edkins, Documentary
Patrick Creadon, Documentary
Orwa Nyrabia, Documentary
Jenny Raskin, Documentary
Chan Tze Woon, Documentary
Sonja Henrici, Documentary
Monica Hellström, Documentary
Ruth Beckermann, Documentary
Orlando von Einsiedel, Documentary
Ben Cotner, Documentary
Tina Baz, Documentary
David Lawson, Documentary
Nikki Parrott, Documentary
Richard Ladkani, Documentary
Sara Stockmann, Documentary
Kief Davidson, Documentary
Maya Daisy Hawke, Documentary
Violeta Ayala, Documentary
Nick Fraser, Documentary
Allie Light, Documentary
Noe Mendelle, Documentary
Signe Byrge Sørensen, Documentary
Lindsey Dryden, Documentary
May Leung, Visual Effects
Mette Heide, Documentary
Janet Cole, Documentary
Kate Amend, Documentary
Johanna Demetrakas, Documentary
Jacki Ochs, Documentary
Joëlle Alexis, Documentary
Ondi Timoner, Documentary
Jennifer Fox, Documentary
Femi Odugbemi, Documentary
Shirley Abraham, Documentary
John Davey, Documentary
Petra Costa, Documentary
Nainita Desai, Music
Natasha Dack, Documentary
Chris Munro, Sound
Betsy West, Documentary
Beatrix O’Sullivan, Sound
Ian Voigt, Sound
Allyson Luchak, Documentary
Colin Nicolson, Sound
Robert Bahar, Documentary
Liz Miller, Marketing and Public Relations
Bill Morrison, Documentary
Arhynn Descy, Music
Cristina Gallego, Producers
Niels Pagh Andersen, Film Editors
Gabriel Rhodes, Documentary
Anne Köhncke, Documentary
Marco Williams, Documentary
Almudena Carracedo, Documentary
Naomi Foner, Writers
Kellen Quinn, Documentary
William Horberg, Producers
Anne Carey, Producers
Sam Green, Documentary
Tony Gerber, Documentary
Nishtha Jain, Documentary
Rachel Leah Jones, Documentary
Emma Davie, Documentary
Liran Atzmor, Documentary
Amelia Hapsari, Documentary
Pato Escala, Animation
Judy Karp, Documentary
Susan Jacobs, Production and Technology
Benjamin Domenech, Producers
Claudia Weill, Directors
Su Kim, Documentary
Kimberly Steward, Executives
Erez Laufer, Documentary
Pamela Yates, Documentary
Lais Bodanzky, Directors
Paco de Onís, Documentary
Carolyn Hepburn, Documentary
Michael Collins, Documentary
Laura Coxson, Documentary
Dawn Porter, Documentary
Jessie Buckley, Actor
Gema Juarez Allen, Documentary
Diane Quon, Documentary
Steve Nelson, Sound
Paula Barreto, Producers
Joe Brewster, Documentary
Kim Longinotto, Documentary
Christina Piovesan, Producers
Matt Wolf, Documentary
Dana Stevens, Writers
Desiree Akhavan, Writers
Agustina Llambi Campbell, Producers
Paola Castillo, Documentary
Thomas Allen Harris, Documentary
Alberto Moccia, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Farihah Zaman, Documentary
B Ruby Rich, Documentary
Eva Mulvad, Documentary
Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Documentary
Guy Davidi, Documentary
Negeen Yazdi, Executives
Ramin Bahrani, Directors
Sierra Pettengill, Documentary
Penelope Falk, Documentary
Sam Pollard, Documentary
Geralyn Dreyfous, Documentary
Nancy Schreiber, Cinematographers
Sam Bisbee, Producers
Sabine Krayenbuhl Saunders, Documentary
Ryan Werner, Marketing & Public Relations
Anna Muylaert, Directors
Rachel Lears, Documentary
Amy Robinson, Producers
Jeff Malmberg, Documentary
Jess Devaney, Documentary
Lucy Walker, Documentary
David Heilbroner, Documentary
Kate Davis, Documentary
Linda Reisman, Producers
Milton Justice, Documentary
Charlie Olsky, PR and Marketing
Keith Wilson, Documentary
David Gallego, Cinematographers
Mindy Goldberg, Producers
Lori Cheatle, Documentary
Brian Kates, Film Editors
Matthew Libatique, Cinematographers
Luc Dery, Producers
Ciro Guerra, Directors
Tony Safford, Executives
Laurens Grant, Documentary
Muffie Meyer, Documentary
Jonathan Stack, Documentary
Jannat Gargi, Documentary
David France, Documentary
Midge Costin, Sound
Laurie Collyer, Writers
Maureen Ryan, Documentary
Emma Koskoff, Producers
Chris Duesterdiek, Sound
Alice Braga, Actors
Jinko Gotoh, Animation
Finola Dwyer, Producers
Bob Eisenhardt, Documentary
Rosa Bosch, Production & Technology
Tom Hurwitz, Cinematographers
Kate Hurwitz, Executives
Jordana Berg, Documentary
Karen Akerman, Documentary
Rick Goldsmith, Documentary
Deborah Haywood, Short Films
Daniel Rezende, Film Editors
Mynette Louie, Producers
Sara Silveira, Producers
Nicolas Celis, Producers
Alan Raymond, Documentary
Susan Raymond, Documentary
Daniel Sivan, Documentary
Alexandra Strauss, Editors
Caryn Capotosto, Documentary
Peter Albrechtsen, Sound
Lauren Wolkstein, Short Films
Chi-hui Yang, Documentary
Justin K Thompson, Animation
Gianfranco Rosi, Documentary
Ryan Harrington, Documentary
Philippe Bellaiche, Documentary
Alicia Van Couvering, Producers
Lora Kennedy, Casting Directors
Christine Turner, Documentary
Glenn Silber, Documentary
Jose Joffily, Documentary
Mila Turajlic, Documentary
Emílio Domingos, Documentary
Nadia Hallgren, Documentary
Buddy Squires, Documentary
David Field, Executive
Charlotte Munch Bengtsen, Film Editors
Raoul Peck, Documentary
Danielle Renfrew Behrens, Documentary
Richard Hankin, Documentary
Jenny Carchman, Documentary
Ryan Fleck, Writers
Maria Augusta Ramos, Documentary
UPDATED as of 11:50AM E.S.T., 3/28/2025
This letter is still being circulated. Signatories will be updated periodically
