Shutterbugged: Oscar-nominated Palestinian Director Detained at LAX

Emad Burnat, Palestinian director of 5 Broken Cameras, was detained wirh his family at LAX and threatened with deportation, with an Oscar nomination for best documentary in his pocket. He was only released after timely and strong intervention by Michael Moore and the Academy.

"Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee," Moore said.

5 Broken Cameras is described as: 

An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism,...a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later given to Israeli co-director Guy Davidi to edit. Structured around the violent destruction of each one of Burnat's cameras, the filmmakers' collaboration follows one family's evolution over five years of village turmoil. Burnat watches from behind the lens as olive trees are bulldozed, protests intensify, and lives are lost. 'I feel like the camera protects me,' he says, 'but it's an illusion.

You can bet Emad's Israeli co-director won't have any problem at the airport.