Filmmaker Michael Moore tugged on his Superman cape today to rush to the rescue of a filmmaker fearing deportation.
The director in question, Emad Burnat, flew into Los Angeles to prepare for Sunday’s Academy Award ceremony. He’s nominated for his anti-Israel documentary 5 Broken Cameras, but Burnat claims security officials on site didn’t believe him and threatened to deport him.
Moore tweeted that he called Academy officials, who called lawyers, who contacted LAX to speak on Burnat’s behalf.
“I told Emad to give the officers my phone number and to say my name a couple of times,” Moore said.
Burnat and his family were eventually released and told he could stay in Los Angeles for the week and attend the 85th Academy Awards Sunday, Burnat said in a written statement today.
Moore claimed Burnat was held for an hour and a half at LAX, while a source told ABC News the wait time was actually 25 minutes and no one threatened him with deportation.
Burnat used the incident to drum up emotional support for the Palestinian cause.
“Although this was an unpleasant experience, this is a daily occurrence for Palestinians, every single day, throughout the West Bank,” Burnat said.