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Syrian woman to attend Oscars

The Syrian subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary has obtained a travel visa to attend the Academy Awards ceremony.

Hala Kamil
Syrian woman Hala Kamil will attend the Oscars. Source: YouTube

Hala Kamil, the Syrian subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary short Watani: My Homeland, has obtained a travel visa and will attend the Academy Awards ceremony.

Plans were up in the air for the mother of four whose resettlement in Germany, after ISIS kidnapped her husband in 2013 is the focus of Marcel Mettelsiefen's short film.

The travel ban created through an executive order signed by President Trump three weeks ago restricted travel and immigration from citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries, including an indefinite ban on Syrians.

Like several other foreign filmmakers nominated for Oscars this year, Kamil was unsure what the ban would mean for her ability to attend the ceremony.

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After a US district judge stayed the ban two weeks ago, a federal appeals panel from the 9th Circuit ruled 3-0 to maintain the ruling, which Trump is expected to appeal again. The decision restricts execution of the executive order and has allowed travellers like Kamil to make the journey to the US.

"When I heard that I might have the opportunity of attending the Oscars to represent Watani: My Homeland' I felt incredibly proud and happy but bittersweet," Kamil said in a statement.

"To think that over three years after I last saw my husband, I'll be travelling to that same ceremony we watched together, brings tears to my eye."

For three years, Mettelsiefen filmed the family of refugees as they lived in and then fled the war-torn city of Aleppo. Abu Ali, Kamil's husband, actively fought as a commander in the Free Syrian Army before being abducted by ISIS militants.

"I want to tell the world about a small country called Syria, a country that has been burnt alive, its people torn up from the soil they once thrived on," Kamil's statement went on.

Several other films nominated in the two documentary categories depict or were directed by individuals affected by the ban. Asghar Farhadi, an Iranian whose film The Salesman is up for the foreign language film category, denounced the ban and has stated he would abstain from attending even if accommodations were made.

Now that the ban is stayed, Farhadi could in theory attend but has stated he will instead host a screening of the film in London the night of the Oscars.


3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



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