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Adrien Brody Condemns Antisemitism After Winning Oscar for Playing Holocaust Survivor in ‘The Brutalist’
Adrien Brody poses with the Oscar for Best Actor for “The Brutalist” in the Oscars photo room at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, March 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Daniel Cole
Jewish actor Adrien Brody has now won two Oscars for best actor, after taking home the honor on Sunday at the 97th Academy Awards for his role as a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor and architect in “The Brutalist.”
Brody, 51, won one of the night’s biggest awards for his portrayal of Lázló Tóth, a fictional character who escaped the Holocaust and then immigrated to the United States in pursuit of the American Dream. The actor, whose parents are both Jewish, beat fellow nominees Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”), Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”) Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”), and Sebastian Stan (“The Apprentice”).
Brody previously won an Academy Award for best actor in 2002 for his role in Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist,” in which he played a Polish-Jewish musician who struggles to survive World War II while hiding from the Nazis in Warsaw. His return to the Oscars on Sunday, 22 years later, is the second longest gap between wins for best actor, following a span of 29 years between wins for “Silence of the Lambs” and “The Father” for Anthony Hopkins, according to the Associated Press.
In his acceptance speech on Sunday at the Academy Awards, Brody discussed his return to the Oscars stage for again playing a Holocaust survivor. He also denounced antisemitism and racism.
“I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and othering,” he said in part. “I pray for a healthier and a happier and a more inclusive world. And I believe if the past can teach us anything, it’s a reminder to not let hate go unchecked. Let’s fight for what’s right. Keep smiling, keep loving one another. Let’s rebuild together.”
Brody also won best actor for his role in “The Brutalist” at the Golden Globes in January. He took home the same honor at the British Academy Film Awards in February, and in his acceptance speech he also spoke about antisemitism. “[‘The Brutalist’] speaks to the need for all of us to share in the responsibility of how we want others to be treated and how we want to be treated by others,” he said. “There’s no place any more for antisemitism. There’s no place for racism.”
“The Brutalist” was nominated for 10 Oscars, including best picture and best director. Brody starred in the film alongside Felicity Jones, who plays Tóth’s wife, and Guy Pearce, who plays a man who sexually assaults the Holocaust survivor. A best supporting actor nominee, Pearce attended the Oscars on Sunday wearing on his tuxedo a pin featuring a white dove that is holding an olive branch and emblazoned with the phrase “Free Palestine.” At last year’s Cannes Film Festival, he wore a Palestinian flag on the lapel of his tuxedo.
The post Adrien Brody Condemns Antisemitism After Winning Oscar for Playing Holocaust Survivor in ‘The Brutalist’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.