The Zone of Interest took home the Oscar for Best International Film for on Sunday night, the film's writer and director Jonathan Glazer's acceptance speech included a poignant message about the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza.
“All our choices we 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 our past and present," said Glazer, whose film is about the Holocaust.
"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,” he continued, as some people in the crowd applauded. “Whether the victims of Oct. 7 in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza—all the victims of this dehumanization. How do we resist?”
The Academy Awards later uploaded all the acceptance speeches to YouTube—except Glazer’s. ABC uploaded his speech, but it is still not on the official Oscars page as of publishing time. What makes the decision so odd is that Glazer's speech was one of the most talked about of the night, garnering many reactions on social media.
According to Vox, Glazer's speech is already being widely misquoted. Outlets like Variety and political commentators like Meghan McCain claimed he refuted his Jewishness outright. But if you read Glazer's comments—or watch his speech—it's clear he meant that he and his collaborators rejected using Jewishness and the Holocaust to justify the ongoing military offensive in Gaza.
The Zone of Interest is a historical drama, written and directed by Glazer. It’s loosely based on the 2014 novel of the same name, written by Martin Amis, which is based on a true story. The film follows Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) who live with their family in a home next to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
