Writer/director Jonathan Glazer, who won the Academy Award for best international feature for “The Zone of Interest” on Sunday, took advantage of his victory speech to criticize Israel.
Glazer asserted that Israel “weaponized” the Holocaust to commit “genocide” against Palestinian Arabs.
“Our film shows where dehumanization leads, at its worst,” Glazer said. “Zone of Interest” tells the story of the commandant of Auschwitz and his wife who strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.
“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, whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel, or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims, this humanization, how do we resist?” he added.
Glazer said he hopes the film will draw attention to current conflicts in the world. “All our choices are made to reflect and confront us in the present. Not to say, ‘Look what they did then,’ rather ‘look what we do now.”