Days before the Oscars,Last Men in Aleppoproducer Kareem Abeed has been granted a travel visa and will be able to attend the ceremony after all.
Last Men in Aleppo,which tells the story of the Syrian search-and-rescue organization the White Helmets, is nominated for best documentary feature, making it the first Syrian-produced and directed film in Oscar history to earn a nomination.
Abeed holds a Syrian passport, and the U.S. government previously rejected his system for a visa to attend the awards ceremony due to President Trumps travel ban.
Credit: Grasshopper Film
However, his appeal to the U.S. State Department was successful, and EW has confirmed he now plans to attend Sundays event.
The documentarys director, Feras Fayyad, shared the news on Twitter,writing, Thanks for everyone involved to helping this process and thanks for all the solidarity and the effort from the American friends for facing Trump ban to help us to be with our film.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences previously released a statementshowing support for Abeedand vowing to stand in solidarity after his initial visa program was denied.
The films subject White Helmets founder Mahmoud Al-Hattar will not attend the ceremony, as the Syrian government refused to issue him a passport.
Last year, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, whose filmThe Salesmanwon for best foreign language film,did not attend the Oscarsin protest of Trumps travel ban.
Last Men in Aleppois competing in the documentary feature category, along withIcarus, Strong Island, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,andFaces Places.The 90th Academy Awards will air Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC.
