‘Last Men In Aleppo’ Producer Obtains Visa To Attend Oscars, But Doc’s White Helmets Co-Founder Will Not
Kareem Abeed, the producer of the Oscar-nominated feature documentary Last Men in Aleppo, has been granted a travel visa to the U.S. so that he can attend the Oscars on Sunday.
Previously, the Syrian native who lives in Turkey, was denied entry due to the Trump administration’s ban on eight Muslim countries, but the U.S. State Department cleared Abeed after his appeal.
Last Men in Aleppo follows a citizen group The White Helmets who are involved in rescuing bomb victims during the Syrian civil war. The pic’s protagonist Mahmoud Al-Hattar, co-founder of the White Helmets, is being denied a passport by the Syrian government as the Assad regime believes the group has connections to terrorism.
Earlier this month, the International Documentary Association and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences released statements in support of Abeed.
Director Feras Fayyad, who is the first Syrian to be nominated for an Oscar, exclaimed his elation on Twitter about Abeed’s clearance, saying, “Thanks for everyone involved to helping this process and thanks for all the solidarity and the effort from the American friends for facing Trump ban to help us to be with our film.”
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