The CEO of the National Academy for Television, Arts and Sciences Adam Sharp has defended the nomination of Palestinan journalist Bisan Owda’s documentary in the News and Documentary Emmy Awards ballot, following an open letter calling for the film to be removed.
The eight-minute film, titled It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive, features brutal depictions of life under the ongoing onslaught on Gaza. It includes an interview with an 11-year-old, who says both his parents were killed in an Israeli airstrike, and documents the struggle to access clean water in the displaced people’s encampments. Owda’s documenting of the conflict in Gaza has gained significant traction on social media, and she has previously worked with the United Nations on issues surrounding women’s rights in Palestine.
The calls for Owda’s documentary to be removed from the Outstanding Hard News Feature Story: Short Form category emerged on Monday (August 19) after evidence was uncovered that she had spoken at events hosted by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) between 2016 and 2019. The PFLP has been responsible for a number of violent attacks since its formation in 1967, and is recognised as a terrorist group by the United Nations.
The open letter was published by the entertainment industry nonprofit Creative Community for Peace (CCFP). It was signed by 150 people, including Legally Blonde actress Selma Blair and previous Emmy winner Debra Messing.
CCFP director Ari Ingel commented that “someone like [Owda] is infusing some legitimate news stories with the propaganda twist and spin of ‘genocide’ which is taken as truth.” Speaking separately, CCFP co-founder David Renzer also argued that the National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences (NATAS) “must decide – they can either condone the murder of innocent civilians or they can listen to the entertainment community, and stand in opposition to hatred and violence.”
Responding on Tuesday (August 20), NATAS head Adam Sharp’s open letter was addressed to Ingel. “NATAS is aware of reports, cited in your open letter and initially surfaced by a communications correspondent in the region, that appear to show a then-teenaged Bisan Owda speaking at various PFLP-associated events between six and nine years ago,” Sharp wrote. “NATAS has been unable to corroborate these reports, nor has it been able, to date, to surface any evidence of more contemporary or active involvement by Owda with the PFLP organisation.”
Sharp went on to emphasise that Owda’s film was reviewed by two successive panels of editorial judges. “NATAS has found no grounds, to date, upon which to overturn the editorial judgement of the independent journalists who reviewed the material,” he said.
Owda’s documentary has already been recognised by the Peabody Awards and the Edward R. Munrow Awards for its outstanding journalistic achievement. The outcome of the News and Documentary Emmy Awards will be announced next month.
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