Asif Kapadia, the director of the documentary Amy, has apologised “unequivocally” for a string of social media posts that some have interpreted as anti-Semitic.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker, who has also directed the documentary films Senna and Diego Maradona, has been removed as a patron of the Grierson Trust in response to the controversy, a post he was only appointed to on Wednesday (October 9).
The Trust is a charity that celebrates documentary and factual filmmaking from Britain and around the world, and said in a statement on Friday (October 11) that they were “not aware of these posts” when he was named as a patron. “We are sorry that our due diligence was not thorough enough,” they added.
In a statement to BBC News, Kapadia has said he was “mortified by the hurt and offence” that his posts have caused.
“I now understand that they will be seen by many as anti-Semitic, or in the case of one even justifying violence. That was not my intention.”
He added he was “passionate” about the fate of people in Palestine and Lebanon, “but I am equally passionate about all anti-racism and condemn all forms of anti-Semitism. I unequivocally apologise for these ill-judged reposts which were posted in haste with a lack of due consideration.”
Kapadia has since deleted his X/Twitter account, but the Independent report that one of the posts in question featured a cartoon of Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu eating at a blood-stained table amid the rubble in Gaza, with a caption reading “kosher”.
In their statement, The Grierson Trust added: “Whilst we accept and support that everyone has a legitimate right to express their views on controversial issues, this cannot justify racist statements or behaviour. As we have stressed in the past and will continue to uphold, the Trust has a zero tolerance approach to racism of all kinds.”
Kapadia’s latest film is 2073, a dystopian, genre-bending project that follows a time traveller who risks his life to attempt to save the future of humanity. It stars Samantha Morton and Naomi Ackie and is set to be screened at the London Film Festival on Wednesday (October 16).
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