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Syrian cinematographer of Oscar-nominated movie denied entry into the U.S. to attend the award ceremony

Published 10:29 26 Feb 2017 GMT

Updated 11:56 26 Feb 2017 GMT

Rory Cashin
Syrian cinematographer of Oscar-nominated movie denied entry into the U.S. to attend the award ceremony

Homenews

The U.S. Immigration authorities have denied entry to a Syrian national who filmed an Oscar-nominated movie, which means he will be unable to attend the Academy Awards ceremony.

21-year-old Khaled Khateeb was the cinematographer for The White Helmets, which has been nominated for Best Documentary Short at this weekend's Academy Awards. Initially, according to the internal Trump administration correspondence seen by the Associated Press (via Deadline), the Department of Homeland Security has decided to block Khateeb from entering the U.S. after reportedly finding “derogatory” information about him, an official term that can mean anything from terror connections to passport irregularities. However, it has since been announced (via The Guardian) that the Syrian government themselves denied Khaled the passport, after they accused the group of being a front for al-Qaida and of faking footage of the aftermath of airstrikes for propaganda purposes. The White Helmets tells the story of the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated front-liners who have saved more than 60,000 civilian lives in war-torn Syria. The 40-minute short is available to watch on Netflix right now. Clip via Netflix USA & Canada

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Syrian cinematographer of Oscar-nominated movie denied entry into the U.S. to attend the award ceremony