The Berlinale scandal continues at the Oscars: cinema becomes a victim of politics

Organizers of film events face charges of anti-Semitism

One of the winners at the recent 96th Academy Awards was Jonathan Glazer’s Zone of Interest. It was one of the ten contenders for the title of “best film”. As a result, it was recognized as “Best International Film,” as films in a foreign language are now called, and was noted for its sound. This is Glazer’s first Oscar, which will be remembered by everyone for a long time after the winner’s unexpected performance.

In his speech, read from a piece of paper, Glazer harshly criticized Israel’s position in the Gaza Strip. Moreover, he spoke in such a way that he confused everyone. Social networks began to sort out what he really wanted to say and whether he was understood correctly. While film academics applauded, social networks tried to figure out the details. Glaser, being a Jew, said so much that many decided that he was abandoning his people.

Glaser’s remarks were followed by an open letter from Holocaust Survivors Foundation President David Schecter, 94, who condemned the “Zone of Interest” director’s comments and called his comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “factually inaccurate and morally indefensible.”

Before the Oscar, “Zone of Interest” participated in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the Grand Prix there. The film tells the story of the family of the commandant of Auschwitz, living a few meters from the death camp, where dozens, or even hundreds of people are exterminated every day. He has a beautiful house and garden, five children are growing up, from whom it is impossible to hide the smells and sounds in the air.

As a sign of protest and after the director’s speech, someone does not intend to watch this film, and those who have seen it urge not to lump everything together and are of the opinion that the film is really strong.

On February 24, at the closing of the Berlin Film Festival, while receiving the Golden Bear for the documentary Dahomey, French-Senegalese director Mati Diop also read out, but from her phone screen, a long speech in which she expressed words of support for Palestine. Everyone applauded her, and the next day the Berlinale management had to answer for accusations of anti-Semitism that were made from the stage. A Cultural Advisory Council was held in the capital of Germany, to which the festival’s management was invited for clarification and work on mistakes.

Creative achievements are increasingly being sacrificed to politics, and some filmmakers occupy first positions not at all according to artistic criteria. Activists pushed aside professionals. Festivals become hostage to their own declarations.