James Wilson, from left, Leonard Blavatnik, and Jonathan Glazer accept the award for The Zone of Interest from the United Kingdom, for best international feature film during the Oscars on Sunday, March 10, 2024. AFP
The Zone of Interest follows Rudolf Höss, a commandant of Auschwitz, and his wife Hedwig, who build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.
The film won Best International Feature Film and Best Sound Academy Awards.
It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
"All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present. Our film shows where dehumanization leads at its worst. It’s shaped all of our past and present," the film's screenwriter and director Glazer said while standing on the stage with producers James Wilson and Len Blavatnik.
"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, whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza. All the victims of this dehumanization — how do we resist?"
Outside of the Dolby Theater where the ceremony took place, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters carried signs slamming what they described as Hollywood's silence on the genocide in Gaza and chanted for a ceasefire in the Israeli war on the strip.
The protests shut down several streets around the theatre, delaying the arrival of some celebrities to the ceremony by one hour.
During the ceremony, several celebrities were spotted wearing red pins representing Artists4Ceasefire, a collective of more than 400 artists who support a ceasefire in Gaza. They included Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas, Ava DuVernay, Mark Ruffalo, and Ramy Youssef.
According to Variety, Ramy Youssef told the publication before the ceremony: "We’re calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza. We’re calling for peace and lasting justice for the people of Palestine. It’s a universal message of ‘Let’s stop killing kids. Let’s not be part of more war'."
(Photo: AFP)
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