Kaouther Ben Hania’s docudrama “The Voice of Hind Rajab” is up for best international feature at the Oscars on Sunday, but one of its stars will not be in attendance.
Motaz Malhees, who plays a call center operator desperately trying to help 5-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab as she’s trapped in a car under fire in Gaza, revealed on Thursday that he is unable to represent the film at the awards due to U.S. President Donald Trump‘s travel ban on Palestine.
“Three days left to the Oscars. Our film ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ is nominated for an Academy Award. I had the honor of playing one of the lead roles in a story the world needed to hear. But I will not be there,” Malhees wrote on Instagram. “I am not allowed to enter the United States because of my Palestinian citizenship.”
Malhees continued, “It hurts. But here is the truth You can block a passport. You cannot block a voice.
I am Palestinian, and I stand with pride and dignity. My spirit will be with the ‘Voice of Hind Rajab’ that night. Good luck to all of you. Our story is bigger than any barrier, and it will be heard.”
In December, Trump banned people with Palestinian Authority passports from entering the U.S. alongside those from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. Though Malhees will not be present at the Oscars, the film’s director Ben Hania, who is Tunisian, should be able to attend.
“The Voice of Hind Rajab” is nominated for best international feature alongside Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident,” Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent,” Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” and Oliver Laxe’s “Sirât.”
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