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The area of interest Executive producer and co-financier Danny Cohen spoke out against director Jonathan Glazer’s 2024 Oscars acceptance speech, while defending the film itself as a “great work of art.”
“It’s really important to recognize that (the speech) upset a lot of people and a lot of people are upset and angry about it. And, frankly, I understand that anger,” said Cohen, president of Access Entertainment. said to Impious podcast on Thursday.
In his speech prepared to accept the 2024 Academy Award for best international film, Glazer thanked his partners in The area of interesta film set during the Holocaust, and later made a statement addressing both his work and the current war between Israel and Hamas.
“I think many people in the Jewish community who contacted me felt that it was a remarkable and very important film and that, in so doing, it tells a story of the Holocaust and is a very important part of Holocaust education. And I think they’ve been bothered by the sense that they’ve gotten mixed up with what’s going on now (in Gaza), whether that was Jonathan’s intention or not,” Cohen added.
Cohen also indicated that Glazer did not alert him or consult him beforehand about the content of his acceptance speech before the Academy Awards triumph. “I guess directors can do things on their own. “I understand he did it with Jim Wilson,” the film’s executive producer added of one of the film’s producers, James Wilson, who was alongside Glazer on the Oscars stage.
The British filmmaker said in his controversial speech that he refuted that “Judaism and the Holocaust are hijacked by an occupation” when accepting his Oscar.
Len Blavatnik, another of the film’s producers who also accompanied Glazer on the Oscar stage, said through a spokesman that he, too, did not approve of the acceptance speech. Amid the ongoing war in Gaza following the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on October 7, Cohen remained steadfast in his full support for Israel.
“I fundamentally disagree with Jonathan on this. My support for Israel is unwavering. The war and the continuation of the war is the responsibility of Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization, which continues to hold and abuse hostages, and which uses its tunnels not to protect the innocent civilians of Gaza, but to hide. and allow Palestinians to die. I think the war is tragic and terrible and the loss of civilian life is terrible, but I blame Hamas for it. And any discussion of war without saying that lacks the proper context that any discussion should have,” Cohen said.
He added that Glazer chose the wrong time and place to express his opposition to Israel’s conflict in Gaza.
“Listen, it’s his movie. You can stand there and choose your own words and that’s okay. He is a strong person and I am sure he will support them. But for me, it wasn’t the right time, it didn’t have enough context, and it was a distraction from a great work of art. But you know, Jonathan is really someone who lets his work speak for itself,” Cohen said.
“So I’m much more in favor of the movie speaking for itself than what is said on television in 30 seconds in a hot environment,” Cohen added.