As members of the global movie community petition to boycott Israeli film institutions over the war in Gaza, the country’s Academy Award entry for international feature, “The Sea,” is stirring up controversy of its own that is sure to follow it throughout Oscar season.
A drama written and directed by Shai Carmeli-Pollak, the film tells the story of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from the West Bank (played by Muhammad Ghazawi) who disappears in Israel on his way to visit the sea. Earlier this week, it won best picture at the Ophir Awards, Israel’s equivalent of the Oscars, and automatically became the country’s Oscar entry for international feature.
But following the win, Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar announced that he would pull government funding for the Ophirs, which are run by the Israeli Film and Television Academy. Calling the film “pro-Palestinian,” Zohar wrote on Instagram, “This great absurdity that the citizens of Israel are still paying out of their own pockets for the shameful ceremony of the Ophir Awards, which represents less than one percent of the Israeli people — is over.”
This came after Hannah Einbinder’s call to “Free Palestine” at the Emmys last week drew some ire on the Internet. And it followed the Film Workers for Palestine petition signed by 4,500 people — including Emma Stone, Ava DuVernay, Andrew Garfield and Joaquin Phoenix — to boycott Israeli institutions that are “implicated in genocide” in an effort to “end our complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” according to the group’s statement. (On Sept. 16, a United Nations inquiry said that Israel’s military actions in Gaza qualified as war crimes under the 1948 Genocide Convention.)
In an illustration of just how fraught and complicated this issue is, that boycott would include the organization that financed “The Sea.”
In short, the film is entering awards season amid a storm of discord. But judging from history, “The Sea’s” timely subject matter is more likely to help its chances with Academy voters than hurt it. “I think the relevancy will help,” said an insider who works on Oscar campaigns in the international film category. “The Academy membership at-large is very much interested in promoting the works of filmmakers who are bringing attention towards world crises. Specifically, this category and the documentary category always seem to make some kind of a statement.”
It’s significant that best international feature is decided by Academy members across all branches, a group that does not shy away from movies with a political bent, either current or historical. Since 2021, it has nominated “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” “I’m Still Here,” “The Zone of Interest,” “Io Capitano” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Argentina, 1985” and “Quo Vadis, Aida?”
And last year, another controversial movie that grappled with the war in Gaza, “No Other Land,” weathered its share of public battles before winning the Academy Award for best documentary. Directed by the Palestinian-Israeli collective of Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the film offered an unflinching look at life in Masafer Yatta, a group of Palestinian villages in the West Bank targeted by the Israeli military. The doc was such a lightning rod that it ended up self-distributing in the U.S. when no company dared to pick it up. After its Academy Award win, a backlash ensued, with Zohan among the voices calling for a boycott.
This year, in addition to “The Sea,” Oscar voters will also contend with Tunisia’s entry, “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” a docudrama written and directed by Kaouther Ben Hania that depicts the true story of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl killed in 2024 during the Israeli forces’ invasion of Gaza. It won the Silver Lion in Venice.
The Israeli Film and Television Academy did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on “The Sea.” But as first reported by Variety, the organization’s president, Assaf Amir, stated on Wednesday, “In the face of attacks by ministers in Israel’s government on Israeli cinema, and calls from parts of the international film community to boycott us, the selection of this film is a resounding and decisive answer. I am proud that an Arabic-language film, born out of collaboration between Jewish and Palestinian Israelis, has been chosen to represent Israel in the Oscar competition.”
Representatives from the Israeli Film Fund also did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. But the mission statement of the organization, whose long history of backing acclaimed films includes “Beyond the Walls,” “Waltz with Bashir,” “Ajami” and Footnote,” says plenty: “The Israeli Film Fund encourages creative freedom and creates a rich platform that brings to the screen a variety of stories that help to express the cultural wealth of Israeli society.”
