More than 150 Jewish industry professionals, including Joaquin Phoenix, Joel Coen, and Todd Haynes, have lent their names to a new open letter penned in support of Jonathan Glazer’s much-debated Oscars acceptance speech. Scroll down to read the full letter and list of names.
The full list of signatories first reported on by Variety features 151 names from across the film and TV world like Sorry to Bother You filmmaker Boots Riley, veteran indie director Nicole Holofcener, British auteur Mike Leigh, Passages filmmaker Ira Sachs, and Gossip Girl actor and writer Tavi Gevinson. Deadline was handed a copy of the letter and its signatories. We have also contacted reps for several names listed to confirm their involvement.
The open letter states that the signees “support Jonathan Glazer’s statement from the 2024 Oscars,” adding they have been “alarmed” to see their industry colleagues “mischaracterize and denounce his remarks.”
“Their attacks on Glazer are a dangerous distraction from Israel’s escalating military campaign, which has already killed over 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza and brought hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation,” the letter reads.
The letter adds: “Glazer, Tony Kushner, Steven Spielberg, and countless other artists of all backgrounds have decried the killing of Palestinian civilians. We should all be able to do the same without being wrongly accused of fueling antisemitism.”
The open letter concludes: “We stand with all those calling for a permanent ceasefire, including the safe return of all hostages and the immediate delivery of aid into Gaza, and an end to Israel’s ongoing bombardment of and siege on Gaza.”
Today’s letter is the latest industry-wide intervention published concerning Glazer’s politically-orientated Oscars speech. Back in February accepting the Best International Feature Oscar, Glazer spoke at length and highlighted what he described as the shared ideology behind the subject matter in Zone Of Interest and contemporary world events.
“All our choices were 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. It shaped all of our past and present,” Glazer said.
“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. 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? Aleksandra Bystroń-Kołodziejczyk, the girl who glows in the film, as she did in life, chose to. I dedicate this to her memory and her resistance. Thank you.”
The British filmmaker has yet to speak publicly as voices from across the political spectrum have spoken out to praise and criticize his speech. Earlier this week, however, Glazer submitted two signed film posters to the Cinema For Gaza fundraising campaign. Other high-profile supporters of the campaign include Tilda Swinton and Ken Loach. The campaign passed $50,000 in one day.
Full Letter
We are Jewish artists, filmmakers, writers, and creative professionals who support Jonathan
Glazer’s statement from the 2024 Oscars. We were alarmed to see some of our colleagues in
the industry mischaracterize and denounce his remarks. Their attacks on Glazer are a
dangerous distraction from Israel’s escalating military campaign which has already killed over
32,000 Palestinians in Gaza and brought hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation. We
grieve for all those who have been killed in Palestine and Israel over too many decades,
including the 1200 Israelis killed in the October 7th Hamas attacks and the 253 hostages taken.
The attacks on Glazer also have a silencing effect on our industry, contributing to a broader
climate of suppression of free speech and dissent, the very qualities our field should cherish.
Glazer, Tony Kushner, Steven Spielberg, and countless other artists of all backgrounds have
decried the killing of Palestinian civilians. We should all be able to do the same without being
wrongly accused of fueling anti-semitism.
In his speech, Glazer asked how we can resist the dehumanization that has led to mass
atrocities throughout history. For such a statement to be taken as an affront only underscores its
urgency. We should be able to name Israel’s apartheid and occupation—both recognized by
leading human rights organizations as such—without being accused of rewriting history.
As the Director of the Auschwitz Memorial, Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, wrote, “The Zone of Interest
is not a film about the Shoah. It is primarily a profound warning about humanity and its nature.”
We must not reserve this warning for a single group. To preserve our humanity and ensure our
mutual survival, we must sound the alarm when any group faces such brutality and acts of
erasure.
We are proud Jews who denounce the weaponization of Jewish identity and the memory of the
Holocaust to justify what many experts in international law, including leading Holocaust
scholars, have identified as a “genocide in the making.” We reject the false choice between
Jewish safety and Palestinian freedom. We stand with all those calling for a permanent
ceasefire, including the safe return of all hostages and the immediate delivery of aid into Gaza,
and an end to Israel’s ongoing bombardment of and siege on Gaza.
We honor the memory of the Holocaust by saying: Never again for anyone.
Signatories
Lenny Abrahamson
Ra’anan Alexandrowicz
Erin Allweiss
Mark Asch
Liran Atzmor
Erin Axelman
Annie Baker
Todd Banhazl
Ariela Barer
Morgan Bassichis
Joshuah Bearman
Abner Benaim
Amy Berg
Kate Berlant
Gregg Bordowitz
Agnes Borinsky
Janicza Bravo
Margaret Brown
Dan Bucatinsky
Simone Bitton
Daniel Chalfen
Joel Coen
Dan Cogan
Dominic Cooke
Molly Crabapple
David Cross
Cyrus Dunham
David Ehrlich
Deborah Eisenberg
Isaac Feldberg
Chloe Fineman
Jordan Firstman
Frances Fisher
Sarah Sophie Flicker
Esther Freud
Bella Freud
Uri Fruchtmann
Noah Galvin
Sarah Gavron
Tavi Gevinson
Ilana Glazer
Natalie Gold
Sam Gold
Jimmy Goldblum
Daniel Goldhaber
Nan Goldin
Josh Gondelman
Josh Gordon
Elliott Gould
Miles Greenberg
Doron Max Hagay
Gordon Hall
Todd Haynes
Fred Hechinger
Lee Hirsch
Eliza Hittman
Nicole Holofcener
Ilan Isakov
Abbi Jacobson
Kristi Jacobson
Rachel Leah Jones
Miranda July
David Katznelson
Deborah Kaufman
Ella Kemp
Sara Kiener
Lola Kirke
Dan Kitrosser
Alison Klayman
Naomi Klein
Pamela Koffler
Jess Kohl
Maris Kreizman
Lisa Kron
Justin Kuritzkes
Rachel Kushner
Serge Lalou
Nadav Lapid
Julliette Larthe
Michael Lieberman
Alison Leiby
Mike Leigh
Cindi Leive
Jonathan Lethem
Mica Levi
Avi Lewis
Kyle Lukoff
Darius Marder
Miriam Margolyes
Sam Marks
Daniel Maté
Gabor Maté
Jane Mayle
Jonathan Meth
Lise Mayer
Collier Meyerson
Avi Mograbi
Sophie Monks Kaufman
Mik Moore
Michael Morris
Hari Nef
Chani Nicholas
David Osit
Nira Park
Zeena Parkins
Joaquin Phoenix
Rain Phoenix
Max Posner
Jeff Preiss
Sarah Ramos
Allon Reich
Leo Reich
Boots Riley
Howard A. Rodman
Jon Ronson
Jacqueline Rose
Martin Rosenbaum
Jason Rosenberg
Tessa Ross
Ira Sachs
Tilly Scantlebury
James Schamus
Jane Schoenbrun
Sarah Schulman
Emma Seligman
Wallace Shawn
Mel Shimkowitz
Noam Shuster Eliassi
Amy Sillman
Nathan Silver
Michael Skolnik
Gillian Slovo
Robyn Slovo
Shawn Slovo
Sarah Adina Smith
Alan Snitow
Morgan Spector
Tom Stoppard
Kae Tempest
Lynne Tillman
Rachel Traub
V (formerly Eve Ensler)
Alicia Van Couvering
Adam Weber
Madeline Weinstein
Debra Winger
Matt Wolf
Jeremy Yaches
Gary Yershon
Jeremiah Zagar
Alexander Zeldin