Director Jonathan Glazer called for an end to the Gaza attacks at the Oscars on Sunday while saying he “refutes” his “Jewishness” and publicly renouncing his religion.
Glazer accepted the Academy Award for Best International Film for “The Zone Of Interest,” his Auschwitz-set film, and seized the opportunity to share his perspective on the conflict in Gaza. “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,” he said.
She is lying. You can still delete this https://t.co/iWJQgVHeRr
— HalalFlow (@halalflow) March 11, 2024
Glazer took the stage alongside producer James Wilson and said explained that he attempted to make his film, which was based on the Martin Amis novel, as contemporary as possible.
He denounced Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, which he said led to the “dehumanization” that affected both the Israelis and Palestinians.
I simply cannot fathom the moral rot in someone’s soul that leads them to win an award for a movie about the Holocaust and with the platform given to them, to accept that award by saying, “We stand here as men who refute their Jewishness.”
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) March 11, 2024
“All our choices are made to reflect and confront us in the present. Not to say, ‘Look what they did then,’ rather ‘Look what we do now.’ Our film shows where dehumanization leads at its worst,” he said.
He ended his speech by dedicating the film to the memory of an elderly Polish woman he had met called Alexandria, who had worked for the Polish resistance when she was just 12.
Jonathan Glazer, winner of the Best International Feature Film award for ‘The Zone of Interest,’ poses in the press room during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at Ovation Hollywood on March 10, 2024 in Hollywood, California. Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
Newsweek’s Batya Ungar-Sargon called Glazer out on his comments in a tweet that has since gone viral on social media.
“I simply cannot fathom the moral rot in someone’s soul that leads them to win an award for a movie about the Holocaust and with the platform given to them, to accept that award by saying, “We stand here as men who refute their Jewishness,” she wrote. (RELATED: Al Pacino Should Get An Award For Worst Presenter After Major Mess-Up)
Glazer’s comments were applauded by the celebrity-studded audience, and have been widely shared on social media. Many fans were left divided by his perspective, and both sides continued to criticize his acceptance speech online.