Last month the BBC asked the question “What makes a film British?”. A filmed report on the topic, which also appeared in the Entertainment & Arts section of the BBC News website, included an explanation from a representative of the British Film Institute:
“There’s a number of ways in which you can qualify as British. The cast is a component, the writer, the director, where it’s shot.”
Two weeks later, on February 28th, the BBC Jerusalem Bureau’s Yolande Knell brought BBC television news audiences a report on 
the film ‘Omar’ under the title “Palestinian film battles it out for an Oscar“. The filmed report also appeared on the Middle East page of the BBC News website, as well as on its Entertainment & Arts page, with Knell telling audiences that:
“The Palestinian contender for the best foreign language film is a love story that becomes a tragedy.”
Also on the Middle East page was a written report by Knell on the same topic, titled “Collaborator film puts Palestinians in Oscars frame“. That report opens:
“The Palestinian film Omar brings the complexities of the conflict with Israel to this year’s Academy Awards.”
So, with this film being clearly presented by the BBC as Palestinian, can audiences assume that – similarly to the criteria which must be met in order for a film to be considered British – the cast, writer, director and location of shooting are Palestinian?
Those who bothered to read right down to the end of Yolande Knell’s long 956-word written report might almost have missed the reference to the fact that the film’s director is actually Israeli.
“Hany Abu Assad, who is from Nazareth in northern Israel, says he has had mixed reviews to his film from Israeli audiences.”
And so are many of the other elements of the film too.
“The film’s screenwriter and director is Israeli. The actor playing the lead role was born in Israel and attended Tel Aviv University before moving to New York. The actress playing the beautiful Nadia is a 16-year-old born in Israel. The actor playing the key role of Omar’s friend Amjad is another 16-year-old born in Israel. Most of the movie was made in Israel (six of the eight weeks of filming).”
Read more about the politics behind this film – promoted and amplified in Knell’s two reports – here.
