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Asif Kapadia, the Oscar-winning director of the Amy Winehouse documentary Amy, has said he “unequivocally” apologises for retweeting social media posts that he understands will be “seen by many as antisemitic.”
The 52-year-old London-born director, also known for Senna and Diego Maradona, has been removed from his position as patron of documentary charity The Grierson Trust over the matter.
In a statement seen by Deadline, Kapadia said: “I’m mortified by the hurt and offence that some of my retweets have caused. I now understand that they will be seen by many as antisemitic, or in the case of one even justifying violence. That was not my intention.
“Like many I feel passionate about the fate of the Palestinian & Lebanese people and the suffering they have endured over the years, but I am equally passionate about all anti-racism and condemn all forms of antisemitism.
“I unequivocally apologise for these ill-judged reposts which were posted in haste with a lack of due consideration.”
Among the posts that Kapadia shared on his since-deleted Twitter account was a cartoon of Benjamin Netanyahu eating at a blood-stained table in the rubble of Gaza with the caption “kosher.”
Another showed a scene from Schindler’s List in which Ralph Fiennes’ character Amon Göth shoots concentration camp prisoners. That image was captioned: “Do you remember this scene from Schindler’s List? The same thing is happening in real time. They are Nazis.”
Kapadia had been appointed patron of The Grierson Trust on Wednesday 9 October, but the charity moved swiftly to remove him from the position.
In their own statement, they said: “Since the Grierson Trust announced that Asif Kapadia had been appointed as one of our patrons, some social media posts shared by him have been drawn to our attention which are antisemitic.
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“When we made the decision to appoint Mr Kapadia, the board was not aware of these posts, some of which appear to be no longer available, and we are sorry that our due diligence was not thorough enough. The Grierson Trust is deeply committed to promoting both freedom of speech and diversity and inclusion in the documentary industry.
“Whilst we accept and support that everyone has a legitimate right to express their views on controversial issues, this cannot justify racist statements or behaviour. As we have stressed in the past and will continue to uphold, the Trust has a zero tolerance approach to racism of all kinds.”
Kapadia’s latest film 2073 is set to screen next week at the BFI London Film Festival. The film is a blend of documentary and fiction set in a dystopian near-future San Francisco.
