one of Hollywood's most vocal anti-Israel voices since October 7th, sported a pin in the shape of a white dove emblazoned with the words “Free Palestine”. Commenting on Instagram, Jewish activist Elizabeth Savestsky wrote: “Guy Pearce, nominated for playing a man who assaults a Holocaust survivor, wears a “Free Palestine” pin – because irony is dead.”…
Then we have the winner of the best documentary feature film which, unsurprisingly, went to No Other Land, a film about the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank. Perhaps the most rapturous applause of the night went to the documentary’s co-director, writer and protagonist, Basel Adra, when he called on the world to “stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people”. This was quickly followed by the night’s only mention of the hostages, as one of the film’s two Israeli directors, Yuval Abraham, took to the mic, briefly mentioning “the Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7 which must be freed”. That the first speech spoke only of the pain and oppression experienced by one people, while the second spoke of unity, brotherhood and a joint future for both Israelis and Palestinians, was probably just a coincidence, right?
If there was one ultimate winner on the night, it was undoubtedly author Dara Horn. She wasn't nominated for any awards, or even in attendance (as far as I know), but her proclamation – people love dead Jews – once again proved to be more prescient than ever. The fact that our stories are told so frequently and poignantly used to feel like an honour. But now? It feels exploitative at best and perverse at worst.
I never thought I'd find myself advocating for Jewish stories to not be told, but I think we need a moratorium on Holocaust films until we work out how to reconcile depictions of our past with the realities of our present. Of course, as Hollywood is run by Jews, I'm sure this won't be too hard to arrange.
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