February 20, 2013

(JTA) — U.S. director and activist Michael Moore intervened to help Palestinian filmmaker Emad Burnat enter the country to attend the Academy Awards ceremony.

Burnat , co-director of the film “5 Broken Cameras,” which is nominated in the best documentary category, was detained early Wednesday morning by U.S. immigration officials at Los Angeles International Airport, along with his wife and his 8-year-old son.

After being detained, Burnat texted Moore for assistance in getting into the country, according to Moore’s Twitter feed. Moore also tweeted that Burnat showed immigration officers his official Oscar invitation, but that did not convince them that he was an Oscar nominee.

Moore said he called Academy Awards officials, who called lawyers, who in turn contacted immigration officials to confirm Emad’s invitation to the Oscars. Moore also tweeted that he told Burnat to “give the officers my phone # and to say my name a couple of times.”

“After 1.5 hrs, they decided to release him & his family & told him he could stay in LA for the week & go to the Oscars. Welcome to America,” Moore tweeted. 

In “5 Broken Cameras,” Burnat chronicles his village’s resistance to the construction of an Israeli settlement and to the soldiers who try to squelch their protests. Five of his cameras were smashed by the Israeli army as he documented friends and family members being shot and injured by Israeli troops. The documentary is officially labeled as a Palestinian-Israeli-French co-production.

The Academy Awards ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on Feb. 24.
 

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