Oscar Nominated Director, Emad Burnat, Held at Los Angeles' LAX, Texts Michael Moore For Help

Oscar Nominated Director, Emad Burnat, Held at Los Angeles' LAX, Texts Michael Moore For Help

Five Broken Cameras is an Oscar-nominated documentary by Emad Burnat. And if it wasn’t for Michael Moore’s help, the director might not be in the country to accept the award, should he win.

See, he was held at LA’s LAX airport for 1.5 hours upon landing along with his wife and eight-year-old son. "Although he produced the Oscar invite nominees receive, that wasn't good enough & he was threatened with being sent back to Palestine," Moore said on his Twitter feed of the incident Tuesday night. "Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee. Emad texted me for help," he added. "After 1.5 hrs, they decided to release him & his family & told him he could stay in LA for the week & go to The Oscars. Welcome to America.” Moore quoted Burnat as saying: "It's nothing I'm not already used to...When u live under occupation, with no rights, this is a daily occurrence."

Five Broken Cameras faces stiff competition in the documentary category from Searching for Sugar Man. The film, which tells the story of two South Africans searching for their musical hero, Rodriguez, has been awarded by BAFTA, Critics' Choice, DGA, PGA, and WGA already, and is clear favourite for the prize. It’s the first nomination for Malik Bendjelloul, but producer Simon Chinn previously won this category for "Man on Wire" (2008).

Check out the trailer for Searching for Sugar Man