During the 2024 BAFTA Awards ceremony on Sunday, several renowned filmmakers called for a ceasefire in Gaza and support for the victims of the war.
The BAFTA Awards are one of the most popular and influential international film awards and are important to the British film industry and a platform for celebrating great works of art and creative talent.
At the ceremony, filmmaker James Wilson called for support for the victims of the war in Gaza, and veteran director Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Lafferty carried a banner in front of the cameras calling for an end to the war in Gaza. Newspaper.
After taking the stage, James Wilson, producer of The Zone of Interest, said: “A friend of mine wrote to me after watching the film that he couldn't help but think about the walls we build in our lives, behind which we choose. do not see.”
He added: “These walls are not new during or after the Holocaust. It is now clear that we should worry about the innocents killed in Gaza or Yemen, just as we think about the innocents killed in Maribel (in Ukraine) or in Israel.
The crowd cheered after Wilson's speech after receiving the award for Best Foreign Language Film.
“Thank you for endorsing a film that asks us to think in those spaces,” the producer concluded.
“Selective Empathy”
Before the awards ceremony, Wilson spoke to British news agency PA Media: “It's clear that there are things in the world and in Gaza that are blatantly reminiscent of a kind of selective empathy. Groups of innocent people being killed, we don't care too much about them.” “It's very obvious compared to other innocent people.”
“Honestly, actually, I think it happens all the time because we get asked about it so much,” he added.
He added: “In the nine years we've been making the film, things have kept happening, especially in 2016 when the migrant crisis brought refugees from North Africa and Syria and bodies washed up on the beaches.”
He continued: “The difference between how our political elite responded to this compared to the refugees from Ukraine shows that these walls exist, and I feel that this is reflected in the way people, especially young people, receive it.”
The film The Zone of Interest revolves around Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. The novel on which the film is based deals deeply with issues of identity, humanity and violence.
According to the Standard newspaper, veteran director Ken Loach and veteran screenwriter Paul Lafferty also appeared in front of the cameras behind a banner during the ceremony calling for an end to the war in Gaza.
Loach (87) attended the ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall and held up a banner reading “Gaza… stop the carnage” as he posed for photos with other filmmakers in front of photographers.
After the September 11 attacks, The Stop the War Coalition, a British group founded on September 21, 2001, posted: “Ken Loach, Paul Lafferty and others send a message to the BAFTA Awards this evening: Stop the shooting now!”
Sixteen Films, the film production company founded by Loach, reposted the banner with the caption “Ceasefire Now”.
The BAFTA Awards are a ceremony held to celebrate artistic achievements by film and television producers from around the world and honor winners in categories such as Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director and more.
