Let it Be Morning – Oscars Campaign
Let It Be Morning is an Israeli drama film directed by Eran Kolirin (The Band’s Visit), based on the Hebrew-language novel of the same name by Palestinian-Israeli author Sayed Kashua. The story follows a man who, after receiving an invitation to his brother’s wedding, returns with his family to the Arabic village where he grew up. Following the wedding, the village is abruptly placed under lockdown by Israeli soldiers without explanation, forcing the protagonist and the community to navigate an uncertain and tense reality.
The film made headlines when it swept the Ophir Awards (Israel’s Academy Awards), securing its selection as Israel’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. In a powerful show of solidarity, the director and producer used their platform to read speeches written by Palestinian cast and crew members. Notably, Let It Be Morning is almost entirely in Arabic, a significant statement just a few years after Israel passed the Nation-State Law, which demoted Arabic from being an official language. With a predominantly Palestinian cast and crew, the film’s Oscars campaign was not only an opportunity to showcase a delicate and beautiful work to an increasingly polarized Hollywood but also a challenge to the question of who gets to tell an Israeli story.