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“The Hot Spot” executive producer Danny Cohen has become the first member of the film’s production team to publicly address director Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar speech, saying: “I fundamentally disagree with Jonathan “.
Accepting the Academy Award Sunday night for best international film, Glazer delivered a series of pre-written remarks in which he compared his film about the Holocaust to the current conflict in Gaza. He was joined on stage by producer James Wilson and executive producer Len Blavatnik.
“All of our decisions were made to reflect and confront ourselves in the present, not to say look what they did then, but look what we do now,” he said, according to the official transcript of the Academy speech. “Our film shows where dehumanization leads at its worst. It has shaped our entire past and present. Right now, we stand here as men refuting their Judaism and the Holocaust held hostage by an occupation that has driven so many innocent people into conflict. Whether they are the victims of October, whether they are the victims of October 7 in Israel or the current attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?”
“The Zone of Interest” follows the story of Rudolf Höss, the longest-serving commander at Auschwitz, and his family as they lived happily next to the death camp.
Speaking on the Unholy podcast, Cohen, chairman of Access Entertainment and former BBC television director, said: “It’s really important to recognize that a lot of people are bothered by it and a lot of people are upset and angry about it. And I understand that anger frankly.”
Cohen said he had been contacted by “many” people in the Jewish community who thought the film was crucial to Holocaust education and were upset that it had been “mixed up with what’s happening now (in Gaza), whether Was it Jonathan’s intention to do that or not?
The producer added that he did not support Glazer’s comments. “I fundamentally disagree with Jonathan on this,” he said. “The war and the continuation of the war is the responsibility of Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that continues to hold and abuse hostages, that 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.”
Glazer’s comments caused controversy particularly among the Jewish community, with Holocaust survivors writing open letters repudiating his claims. However, her speech also received support from those calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, including Stefanie Fox, executive director of the leftist group Jewish Voice for Peace.
In a statement to VarietyFox said Glazer “wants to apply the lessons of the Holocaust to the horrors we ‘face today’… Glazer speaks on behalf of the massive and growing number of Jews who honor our histories by joining our Palestinian brothers in their fight for freedom. and justice.”
When asked by “Unholy” co-hosts Jonathan Freedland and Yonit Levi if Glazer had discussed the speech with anyone else in advance, Cohen revealed that the director had planned it with Wilson, solving the mystery of who “we” was referring to when Glazer He spoke the controversial words: “We are here as men who refute your Judaism and the hijacking of the Holocaust.” (Blavatnik was reportedly unaware of what Glazer had planned to say.)
Glazer and Wilson “have been collaborators in film, in life, and in ideas for a long time, so I think it was (well, I know) something they wrote together,” Cohen said.
The producer also expressed disappointment that the success of the film, which won a second Academy Award for best sound, had been overshadowed by Glazer’s comments. “John spent 10 years making the movie and has done something remarkable, but this week people are talking more about what he said for 30 seconds,” Cohen said. “And I think that’s unfortunate because I would love for the conversation to focus on the movie itself.”
“Listen, it’s your movie,” Cohen said. “He can stand there and choose his own words and that’s fine and he will do it and he’s a strong person and I’m sure he will defend them, but for me it wasn’t the right time and it didn’t happen that way.” I have enough context and thought it was a distraction from the great artwork. “John is someone who really allows his work to speak for itself.”
Blavatnik has not commented publicly on Glazer’s speech, but Cohen said the financier’s goal was, like his own, to contribute to Holocaust education. Cohen said the two agreed to finance the film after seeing carefree photos of the Höss family standing in their garden, which overlooked Auschwitz.
“The big picture is that we are honored and excited to win the Academy Awards,” Cohen concluded. “The film, as I say, is extraordinary and I think that is what will be remembered in the long term, not that speech. And we are very proud of the film. There has been a bump in the road, but I don’t think that takes away from the fact that it is an extraordinary film and the impact it can have on Holocaust education, which was certainly the goal for Len Blavatnik and me.”