Director Emad Burnat poses for a portrait during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Was Emad Burnat really mistreated by security staff at the US border? According to the Palestinian Academy Award nominated director, he was stopped by immigration authorities who just wouldn’t buy his story that he was an Oscar-nominee and a filmmaker. He even flashed his invitation to the award ceremonies and pulled out his swanky hotel reservations to prove he wasn’t on team al-Qaeda, but to no avail.
It wasn’t until he got Bush-bashing Michael Moore on the phone, who called his lawyers, that immigration authorities released him. Though Burnat was disgusted by the unfriendly welcome, airport officials have said that Burnat’s tantrums were much-a-hullabaloo about nothing. Apparently, he only had to wait 25 minutes whilst officers poked and pried into his personal life.
Emad Burnat has co-directed the Academy Award nominated documentary 5 Broken Cameras, which is a first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. The documentary was shot almost entirely by Emad Burnat, originally a farmer, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son. In 2009 Israeli co-director Guy Davidi joined on to create the film. Structured around the destruction of Burnat's cameras, the filmmakers' collaboration follows one family's evolution over five years of turmoil.
American filmmaker Michael Moore took to social networking site, Twitter, to explain what had happened to Burnat to his 1.4 million followers:

Emad Burnat, Palestinian director of Oscar nominated "5 Broken Cameras" was held tonight by immigration at LAX as he landed to attend Oscars.

Emad, his wife & 8-yr old son were placed in a holding area and told they didn't have the proper invitation on them to attend the Oscars.

Although he produced the Oscar invite nominees receive, that wasn't good enough & he was threatened with being sent back to Palestine.

Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee. Emad texted me for help.

I called Academy officials who called lawyers. I told Emad to give the officers my phone and to say my name a couple of times.

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.

"It's nothing I'm not already used to," he told me later. "When u live under occupation, with no rights, this is a daily occurrence."

Emad Burnat, Palestinian farmer turned filmmaker, director of "5 Broken Cameras", the 1st Palestinian doc ever nominated for the Oscar.
This all just happened tonight, a few hours ago. He was certain they were going to deport him. But not if I had anything to do about it.