Kareem Abeed, a producer of the Oscar-nominated documentary Last Men in Aleppo, has been denied a visa to enter the United States and will not be able to attend the Academy Awards ceremony on March 4. The Feras Fayyad-directed film, which is about the Syrian Civil War, is up for Best Documentary Feature against Abacus, Faces Places, Icarus, and Strong Island.
“This is to inform you that you have been found ineligible for a visa under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” read the letter from the United States consulate in Istanbul. “A denial under Section 212(f) means that you do not meet the requirements for entry into the United States.”
Also not in attendance: Mahmoud Al-Hattar, one of the subjects of the film and a co-founder of White Helmets, a non-profit organization that provides search-and-rescue assistance to those impacted by the conflict in Syria. Their motto:
“To save a life is to save all of humanity.”
“Kareem, my producer and fellow nominee, cannot come to the U.S. because of the Trump travel ban,” Fayyad told The Hollywood Reporter (the ban is also why director Asghar Farhadi couldn’t attend last year). “Barring a miracle, he will not be at the Oscars with me. We are artists and we just want to share our stories and nothing more. It’s very sad he won’t have an opportunity to share his.”
(Via Variety and The Hollywood Reporter)
