Israel’s culture minister says he will funding to the country’s version of the Oscars after a drama about a Palestinian boy won the top prize on Tuesday.

“The Sea” won the Ophir Award for best film during a ceremony in Tel Aviv where speakers condemned the ongoing war in Gaza and lamented the growing Hollywood boycott against Israeli film institutions . The Arabic-language drama becomes Israel’s automatic entry to next year’s Academy Awards.

It was produced with support from the Israel Film Fund, a public fund that is required to support artists without regard to their politics. A spokesperson for Film Workers for Palestine, the group behind the new boycott, told Variety this week that the Israel Film Fund meets its threshold for complicity.

The group’s pledge , which has drawn mo

See Full Page