Joaquin Phoenix, Joel Coen & Todd Haynes Among 150 Signatories Of Open Letter In Support Of Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar Speech 

More than 150 Jewish industry professionals, including Joaquin Phoenix, Joel Coen, and Todd Haynes, have lent their names to a new open letter penned in support of Jonathan Glazer’s much-debated Oscars acceptance speech. Scroll down to read the full letter and list of names. 

The full list of signatories first reported on by Variety features 151 names from across the film and TV world like Sorry to Bother You filmmaker Boots Riley, veteran indie director Nicole Holofcener, British auteur Mike Leigh, Passages filmmaker Ira Sachs, and Gossip Girl actor and writer Tavi Gevinson. Deadline was handed a copy of the letter and its signatories. We have also contacted reps for several names listed to confirm their involvement. 

The open letter states that the signees “support Jonathan Glazer’s statement from the 2024 Oscars,” adding they have been “alarmed” to see their industry colleagues “mischaracterize and denounce his remarks.” 

“Their attacks on Glazer are a dangerous distraction from Israel’s escalating military campaign, which has already killed over 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza and brought hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation,” the letter reads. 

The letter adds: “Glazer, Tony Kushner, Steven Spielberg, and countless other artists of all backgrounds have decried the killing of Palestinian civilians. We should all be able to do the same without being wrongly accused of fueling antisemitism.”

The open letter concludes: “We stand with all those calling for a permanent ceasefire, including the safe return of all hostages and the immediate delivery of aid into Gaza, and an end to Israel’s ongoing bombardment of and siege on Gaza.”

Today’s letter is the latest industry-wide intervention published concerning Glazer’s politically-orientated Oscars speech. Back in February accepting the Best International Feature Oscar, Glazer spoke at length and highlighted what he described as the shared ideology behind the subject matter in Zone Of Interest and contemporary world events. 

“All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present — not to say, ‘Look what they did then,’ rather, ‘Look what we do now.’ Our film shows where dehumanization leads at its worst. It shaped all of our past and present,” Glazer said. 

“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. Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist? Aleksandra Bystroń-Kołodziejczyk, the girl who glows in the film, as she did in life, chose to. I dedicate this to her memory and her resistance. Thank you.”

The British filmmaker has yet to speak publicly as voices from across the political spectrum have spoken out to praise and criticize his speech. Earlier this week, however, Glazer submitted two signed film posters to the Cinema For Gaza fundraising campaign. Other high-profile supporters of the campaign include Tilda Swinton and Ken Loach. The campaign passed $50,000 in one day. 

Full Letter

We are Jewish artists, filmmakers, writers, and creative professionals who support Jonathan

Glazer’s statement from the 2024 Oscars. We were alarmed to see some of our colleagues in

the industry mischaracterize and denounce his remarks. Their attacks on Glazer are a

dangerous distraction from Israel’s escalating military campaign which has already killed over

32,000 Palestinians in Gaza and brought hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation. We

grieve for all those who have been killed in Palestine and Israel over too many decades,

including the 1200 Israelis killed in the October 7th Hamas attacks and the 253 hostages taken.

The attacks on Glazer also have a silencing effect on our industry, contributing to a broader

climate of suppression of free speech and dissent, the very qualities our field should cherish.

Glazer, Tony Kushner, Steven Spielberg, and countless other artists of all backgrounds have

decried the killing of Palestinian civilians. We should all be able to do the same without being

wrongly accused of fueling anti-semitism.

In his speech, Glazer asked how we can resist the dehumanization that has led to mass

atrocities throughout history. For such a statement to be taken as an affront only underscores its

urgency. We should be able to name Israel’s apartheid and occupation—both recognized by

leading human rights organizations as such—without being accused of rewriting history.

As the Director of the Auschwitz Memorial, Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, wrote, “The Zone of Interest

is not a film about the Shoah. It is primarily a profound warning about humanity and its nature.”

We must not reserve this warning for a single group. To preserve our humanity and ensure our

mutual survival, we must sound the alarm when any group faces such brutality and acts of

erasure.

We are proud Jews who denounce the weaponization of Jewish identity and the memory of the

Holocaust to justify what many experts in international law, including leading Holocaust

scholars, have identified as a “genocide in the making.” We reject the false choice between

Jewish safety and Palestinian freedom. We stand with all those calling for a permanent

ceasefire, including the safe return of all hostages and the immediate delivery of aid into Gaza,

and an end to Israel’s ongoing bombardment of and siege on Gaza.

We honor the memory of the Holocaust by saying: Never again for anyone.

Signatories

Lenny Abrahamson

Ra’anan Alexandrowicz

Erin Allweiss

Mark Asch

Liran Atzmor

Erin Axelman

Annie Baker

Todd Banhazl

Ariela Barer

Morgan Bassichis

Joshuah Bearman

Abner Benaim

Amy Berg

Kate Berlant

Gregg Bordowitz

Agnes Borinsky

Janicza Bravo

Margaret Brown

Dan Bucatinsky

Simone Bitton

Daniel Chalfen

Joel Coen

Dan Cogan

Dominic Cooke

Molly Crabapple

David Cross

Cyrus Dunham

David Ehrlich

Deborah Eisenberg

Isaac Feldberg

Chloe Fineman

Jordan Firstman

Frances Fisher

Sarah Sophie Flicker

Esther Freud

Bella Freud

Uri Fruchtmann

Noah Galvin

Sarah Gavron

Tavi Gevinson

Ilana Glazer

Natalie Gold

Sam Gold

Jimmy Goldblum

Daniel Goldhaber

Nan Goldin

Josh Gondelman

Josh Gordon

Elliott Gould

Miles Greenberg

Doron Max Hagay

Gordon Hall

Todd Haynes

Fred Hechinger

Lee Hirsch

Eliza Hittman

Nicole Holofcener

Ilan Isakov

Abbi Jacobson

Kristi Jacobson

Rachel Leah Jones

Miranda July

David Katznelson

Deborah Kaufman

Ella Kemp

Sara Kiener

Lola Kirke

Dan Kitrosser

Alison Klayman

Naomi Klein

Pamela Koffler

Jess Kohl

Maris Kreizman

Lisa Kron

Justin Kuritzkes

Rachel Kushner

Serge Lalou

Nadav Lapid

Julliette Larthe

Michael Lieberman

Alison Leiby

Mike Leigh

Cindi Leive

Jonathan Lethem

Mica Levi

Avi Lewis

Kyle Lukoff

Darius Marder

Miriam Margolyes

Sam Marks

Daniel Maté

Gabor Maté

Jane Mayle

Jonathan Meth

Lise Mayer

Collier Meyerson

Avi Mograbi

Sophie Monks Kaufman

Mik Moore

Michael Morris

Hari Nef

Chani Nicholas

David Osit

Nira Park

Zeena Parkins

Joaquin Phoenix

Rain Phoenix

Max Posner

Jeff Preiss

Sarah Ramos

Allon Reich

Leo Reich

Boots Riley

Howard A. Rodman

Jon Ronson

Jacqueline Rose

Martin Rosenbaum

Jason Rosenberg

Tessa Ross

Ira Sachs

Tilly Scantlebury

James Schamus

Jane Schoenbrun

Sarah Schulman

Emma Seligman

Wallace Shawn

Mel Shimkowitz

Noam Shuster Eliassi

Amy Sillman

Nathan Silver

Michael Skolnik

Gillian Slovo

Robyn Slovo

Shawn Slovo

Sarah Adina Smith

Alan Snitow

Morgan Spector

Tom Stoppard

Kae Tempest

Lynne Tillman

Rachel Traub

V (formerly Eve Ensler)

Alicia Van Couvering

Adam Weber

Madeline Weinstein

Debra Winger

Matt Wolf

Jeremy Yaches

Gary Yershon

Jeremiah Zagar

Alexander Zeldin