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Nominated Syrian filmmakers will miss Oscars after being refused US visa

Two filmmakers from Syria who have been nominated for an Oscar will miss the ceremony after being refused visas to enter the US.

Due to the US travel ban, producer Kareem Abeed who made the documentary Last Men In Aleppo with director Feras Fayyad, will not be allowed to attend the Oscars on March 4.

The ban, brought in with an executive order from Donald Trump, prevents new visa applications by citizens from Syria.

An official letter from the consulate to Abeed, seen by The Wrap, read: “This is to inform you that you have been found ineligible for a visa under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

“A denial under Section 212(f) means that you do not meet the requirements for entry into the United States.”

Last Men In Aleppo focuses on the work being done by the White Helmets, the volunteer search and rescue team which attends bombings in war-ravaged Syria.

The organisation’s co-founder Mahmoud Al-Hattar has also been denied a passport by the Syrian government to travel to the US, as it claims that the group has links to terrorism.

In a statement, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said: “Director Feras Fayyad and producer Kareem Abeed made history with Last Men in Aleppo, the first Documentary Feature Oscar nominee from a Syrian directing-producing team.

Syrian director Firas Fayyad poses for a photo after an interview with the Associated Press in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Syrian director Firas Fayyad poses for a photo after an interview with the Associated Press in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

“For 90 years, the Oscars have celebrated achievement in the art of filmmaking, which seeks to transcend borders and speak to audiences around the world, regardless of national, ethnic, or religious differences.

“As supporters of filmmakers – and the human rights of all people – around the globe, we stand in solidarity with Fayyad as well as the film’s producer Kareem Abeed, who was denied a visa to the United States to attend the Academy Awards on March 4.”

Last year the British documentary The White Helmets, produced for Netflix, won the Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject).

And it’s not the first time that Donald Trump’s travel ban has become a talking point at the Oscars.

Nominated Iranian director Asghar Farhadi boycotted the ceremony last year over the ban.

His movie The Salesman eventually won best foreign language film.

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