Emad Burnat, the co-director of the Oscar-nominated film 5 Broken Cameras, was detained at LAX last night after flying in to attend this weekend’s Academy Awards ceremony. US Customs officials apparently didn’t believe his story that he was invited by the Academy to attend the Oscars and he – along with his wife and son – were held for almost two hours before finally being allowed to leave the airport.
Following the incident, Burnat issued this statement:
“Last night, on my way from Turkey to Los Angeles, CA, my family and I were held at US immigration for about an hour and questioned about the purpose of my visit to the United States. Immigration officials asked for proof that I was nominated for an Academy Award® for the documentary 5 BROKEN CAMERAS and they told me that if I couldn’t prove the reason for my visit, my wife Soraya, my son Gibreel and I would be sent back to Turkey on the same day.
After 40 minutes of questions and answers, Gibreel asked me why we were still waiting in that small room. I simply told him the truth: ‘Maybe we’ll have to go back.’ I could see his heart sink.
Although this was an unpleasant experience, this is a daily occurrence for Palestinians, every single day, throughout he West Bank. There are more than 500 Israeli checkpoints, roadblocks, and other barriers to movement across our land, and not a single one of us has been spared the experience that my family and I experienced yesterday. Ours was a very minor example of what my people face every day.”
— Emad Burnat, Co-Director of 5 BROKEN CAMERAS
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