A major cultural storm has erupted in Israel. The country’s Culture Minister has announced plans to cut funding for its most prestigious film awards, the Ophir Awards, following Tuesday night’s ceremony where a 90-minute drama about a Palestinian boy claimed the Best Feature prize.
Miki Zohar, the Israeli Minister of Culture and Sports, expressed his strong disapproval on social media. He declared that Israeli taxpayers would no longer finance a “shameful ceremony that spits on heroic I.D.F. soldiers,” a clear reference to the Israeli army. The Ophir Awards are often dubbed Israel’s equivalent of the Academy Awards.
The controversial winning film, titled “The Sea,” written and directed by Shai Carmeli-Pollak, tells the compelling story of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from the West Bank who dreams of seeing the sea for the very first time. His journey takes a dramatic turn when he sneaks into Israel and subsequently vanishes, prompting his father to embark on a desperate search. The movie features a stark portrayal of Israeli soldiers, contributing to the current uproar.
“It’s an utter absurdity that Israeli citizens continue to fund, out of their own pockets, the disgraceful Ophir Awards ceremony, which represents less than one percent of the Israeli populace. This will now cease,” Zohar firmly stated.
Significantly, as the recipient of the Best Feature award, “The Sea” automatically qualifies as Israel’s official entry for the Oscar in the Best International Feature category. The nominations for this esteemed international award are scheduled to be revealed in January.
Muhammad Gazawi, who delivered a moving performance as the Palestinian boy and earned the Best Actor Ophir, used his acceptance speech to advocate for peace. He stated that all children deserve to “live and dream without wars.”
Khalifa Natour, who played the boy’s father in the film and won Best Supporting Actor, chose not to attend the ceremony.
In a statement, Natour conveyed his deep distress: “Following the army’s entry into Gaza and the genocide that frightens me greatly, I cannot find words to describe the magnitude of the horror, and everything else becomes secondary to me.”
The chairman of the Israeli Film and Television Academy, Assaf Amir, responded to the government’s criticism, asserting that the film’s victory was a “resounding and decisive answer” to ministerial attacks on Israeli cinema.
He proudly declared, “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.”
As of Wednesday, representatives for Israel’s culture ministry had not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the minister’s announcement.
The Ophir Awards ceremony took place just hours after a United Nations commission concluded that Israel’s actions in Gaza could be considered genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
This development comes nearly two years after Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in 1,200 deaths. Since then, over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ongoing conflict, according to Gaza health officials, though their figures do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
The artistic community’s discontent with Israel’s military operations in Gaza has grown significantly. Just last week, more than 4,000 actors and directors, including prominent figures like Olivia Colman and Mark Ruffalo, endorsed a boycott of Israeli film institutions. This initiative was spearheaded by Film Workers for Palestine, an organization dedicated to ending the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
In a notable response, Paramount became the first major Hollywood studio to publicly condemn the boycott. The studio released a statement arguing that “silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace.” (Film Workers for Palestine has clarified that their boycott specifically targets film institutions and companies, not individual artists.)
Adding to the international pressure, several countries have also indicated their intention to boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is a participant.