Rich Polk / PMC
After Jonathan Glazer's Oscar acceptance speech Zone of interest The Oscar win for best international film has drawn condemnation from more than a thousand Hollywood actors, creators and executives over the past few days, but Glazer and some in the entertainment industry have spoken out in support of her speech. (For full details on Glaser's speech and backlash, click here.)
For context, here's Glazer's text in its entirety:
thank you very much. I'm going to study, I'm scared.
I thank the Academy for this honor and our partners for access, A24 Films and the Polish Film Institute, the Steed Museum for their trust and guidance, my producers, actors, collaborators.
All our choices are made to reflect and face us in the present, not to say what they did then, but look at what we are doing now.
Our film shows where humanity is going very badly. It has shaped our past and present. Now, we stand here as men denying the Holocaust and their Jewishness, hijacked by an occupation that led to conflict for many innocent people.
Victims of October – Victims of October 7 in Israel or attacks on Gaza, all victims of this inhumane way, how to resist? Alexandria, the woman who shines in the picture as she did in life, chose. I dedicate this to her memory and her resistance. Thanks.
yesterday, she said Star Zoe Kazan shared a partial tweet saying, “It's kind of shocking that anyone interested could be shocked by what Glaser had to say at the Oscars… a film so intent on not allowing its audience to escape emotion or self – congratulations, it becomes a mirror, asking us to look at ourselves and think.. When the producer of that film wins an award for his work, we can ask the same thing… It makes me very sad.
Among others who spoke in support I am a virgin Created by Boots Riley. “Hello Jonathan Glazer,” Riley wrote on X. Among other things, he praised Glaser for “speaking out against the atrocities in Gaza and for saying that his film is about today.”
The band Massive Attack also weighed in, “Jonathan Glaser is a filmmaker of the highest integrity, craft and daring. A filmmaker examines his subject with great care and weighs his artistic judgments with great care and deep humanity. That care, judgment & humanity led to the results of his speech. Unity.”
Directors Asif Kapadia and Jesse Peretz also revealed Support for Glazer's speech, according to Variety.
Auschwitz Memorial Director Dr. Piotr MA Cyvinsky posted perhaps the most surprising response on the organization's official X page.
“In his Oscar acceptance speech, Jonathan Glazer issued a universal moral warning against dehumanization,” the report begins. “It is not his intention to descend into political discourse. Critics who expected a clear political stance or a film about genocide missed the depth of his message. Zone of interest Not a film about the Shoah. It is primarily a profound warning about humanity and its nature.
And further away, someone has started A Change.org petition Support for Glazer. As of this writing, it has 176 signatures.
“Friend of animals everywhere. Devoted analyst. Total alcohol scholar. Infuriatingly humble food trailblazer.”