“Emad Burnat, Palestinian director of Oscar nominated ‘5 Broken Cameras,’ was held tonight by immigration at LAX as he landed to attend the Oscars,” documentary filmmaker and Academy branch governor Michael Moore tweeted to his 1.4 million followers this evening. “Emad, his wife and 8-year-old son were placed in a holding area and told they didn’t have the proper invitation on them to attend the Oscars.”
According to Moore, Burnat texted him for help after being detained. “Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn’t understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee,” Moore continued. “I called Academy officials who called lawyers. I told Emad to give the officers my phone number and to say my name a couple of times.”
Moore also stated that Burnat’s producing the Oscar invitation “wasn’t good enough” and that the nominee was being threatened with deportation.
“He was certain they were going to deport him,” Moore said. “But not if I had anything to do about it… After one and a half hours, they decided to release him and his family and told him he could stay in LA for the week and go to the Oscars. Welcome to America.”
Burnat’s film, which he co-directed with Israeli Guy Davidi, is the first Palestinian documentary nominated for an Oscar. It is the result of Burnat’s coverage of peaceful Palestinian protests in a small village in the West Bank that frequently turn into physical altercations with Israeli soldiers.
Moore said Burnat later told him, “It’s nothing I’m not used to…When you live under occupation, with no rights, this is a daily occurrence”…
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