Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar acceptance speech has evoked strong criticism from the public. Now, The Zone of Interest executive producer and co-financier Danny Cohen broke his silence and expressed disagreement with the director.
He acknowledged the filmmaker’s talent and the success of his latest project. However, Glazer went on to remark that it was also imperative to recognize that his speech had offended the public.
The Zone of Interest’s Danny Cohen Speaks Against Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar Speech
Speaking on the Unholy podcast, the president of Access Entertainment Danny Cohen revealed his sentiments about the latest issue in Jonathan Glazer’s speech.
“It’s really important to recognize [the speech has] upset a lot of people and a lot of people feel upset and angry about it. And I understand that anger frankly.”
He shared how a lot of people from the Jewish community have contacted him about the film and confused it with what is going on in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“I think they’ve been upset by the sense they feel that has been mixed up with what’s going on now [in Gaza], whether that was Jonathan’s intention or not to do that.”
Interestingly, Glazer did not inform Cohen about the contents of his speech, but the latter noted that filmmakers have their own choices. Ultimately, the financier expressed his opinion regarding the ongoing war.
“I just fundamentally disagree with Jonathan on this. My support for Israel is unwavering. The war and the continuation of the war is the responsibility of Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization, which continues to hold and abuse the hostages, and which doesn’t use its tunnels to protect the innocent civilians of Gaza, but uses it to hide themselves and allow Palestinians to die.”
According to Cohen, The Zone of Interest director has chosen the wrong venue and time to express his striking two cents about the ensuing conflict.
Jonathan Glazer’s Acceptance Speech Enraged The Public
During the Oscars night, Glazer made a shocking statement on stage addressing the controversial war between Israel and Palestine. The director, whose film won Best International Feature, stated via THR:
“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 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?”
The message was met with severe backlash, especially from the Holocaust Survivors Foundation, who slammed the director for his “morally indefensible” speech.
Despite Danny Cohen’s argument regarding Glazer’s words, he still believes the latter could stand up for himself and move past the challenges he is currently facing. This is absolutely going to be a hard lesson for the filmmaker.
The Zone of Interest follows the day-to-day life of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife, Hedwig. The movie is available to buy or rent digitally from Prime Video and iTunes.
