Khaled Khateeb, the Syrian cinematographer who worked on the Oscar-nominated film The White Helmets, has been barred from attending the awards show on Sunday, February 26.

The Associated Press reported that the Department of Homeland Security has blocked Khateeb, 21, from entering the United States after finding "derogatory information," a vague term that can include anything from passport irregularities to terror connections. When the news outlet asked a spokeswoman for the federal agency about the findings, she said, "A valid travel document is required for travel to the United States."

Khateeb was scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 25, on a Turkish Airlines flight departing from Istanbul. He had previously been issued a visa to attend the Oscars but, at the last minute, was told he needed a passport waiver from the U.S. to enter the country. Citing internal correspondence from President Donald Trump's administration, the AP reported that the filmmaker "would not receive" the necessary waiver, but further explanation was not provided.



The White Helmets, a 40-minute Netflix documentary chronicling Syria's civil war, is nominated for Best Documentary Short. Should the film win the Oscar on Sunday night, director Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara would be presented with the award, according to the AP.

After Trump, 70, signed his executive order on immigration earlier this month, Khateeb vowed to attend the Oscars in a statement issued to Entertainment Weekly. His comments came after Asghar Farhadi, the Iranian filmmaker behind the Oscar-nominated film The Salesman, announced his plans to protest the ceremony, whether he would be allowed to enter the U.S. or not.

"I plan to travel to L.A. for the Oscars, where the film is nominated for an award," Khateeb previously said. "If I cannot enter the U.S., I will not give up: We know that we have many friends in the U.S., that there are people that share our humanitarian values. I look forward to meeting them all one day."



Farhadi, 44, and his fellow Best Foreign Language Film nominees released a joint statement on Friday, February 24, to address the current political climate. "On behalf of all nominees, we would like to express our unanimous and empathic disapproval of the climate of fanaticism and nationalism we see today in the U.S. and in so many other countries, in part of the population and, most unfortunately of all, among leading politicians," Farhadi, Denmark's Martin Zandvliet (Land of Mine), Sweden's Hannes Holm (A Man Called Ove), Germany's Maren Ade (Toni Erdmann) and Australia's Martin Butler and Bentley Dean (Tanna) said, per JustJared.

"Human rights are not something you have to apply for," the directors continued. "They simply exist — for everybody. For this reason, we dedicate this award to all the people, artists, journalists and activists who are working to foster unity and understanding, and who uphold freedom of expression and human dignity — values whose protection is now more important than ever. By dedicating the Oscar to them, we wish to express to them our deep respect and solidarity."



Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox!</s>This is a developing story.

The 40-minute documentary The White Helmets won the Oscar for Documentary Short on February 26, but two of the film’s subjects — one of whom also served as one of its three cinematographers — weren’t at the ceremony in Los Angeles.

On Saturday, the Associated Press reported that the United States had refused entry to Syrian cinematographer Khaled Khatib, who was scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul the day before the awards. Khatib — who is himself a member of the Syrian Civil Defense, the group profiled in the film — was said to have been denied entry to the US after officials from the Department of Homeland Security said they had discovered “derogatory information” about him.

Before leaving Istanbul, Khatib was detained by Turkish authorities, who said the US would now also require a passport waiver to allow him to enter the country. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the AP that “a valid travel document is required for travel to the United States,” declining to provide further information.

Then, in a statement that Khatib posted to his Twitter account on Sunday, the Syrian Civil Defense said that its leader, Raed Saleh, needed to remain in the country instead of attending the Oscars because the “intense air strikes across the country mean he must focus on work inside Syria.”

Khatib and Saleh had been previously issued visas to attend the ceremony.

The statement went on to say that Khatib had planned to attend, but “was not able to travel to the Oscars due to his passport being cancelled by the Syrian regime, despite having been issued a US visa specifically to attend the awards ceremony.”

Later on Sunday, Khatib spoke with NBC News by phone, and said that Turkish officials had told him it was his visa that was canceled when he arrived at the airport on Tuesday. “Khatib said he wanted to attend the ceremony, but circumstances did not allow it, calling his experience ‘naseeb’— an Arabic expression meaning ‘fate,’” according to NBC’s story.

According to the Guardian, the Syrian government under President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has accused the Syria Civil Defense of being a front for al-Qaeda and “of faking footage of the aftermath of airstrikes for propaganda purposes.” The group has denied this charge.

The White Helmets (which is streaming on Netflix) takes its title from the colloquial name of the Syria Civil Defense, a group of ordinary Syrian men — former builders, tailors, and artisans — who work heroically and tirelessly to extract victims from beneath the rubble in places like Aleppo. The group was nominated for a Nobel Prize in 2016, and has saved more than 58,000 people since 2013.

In a February 17 statement, Khatib had said, “It is so important that people see the film. It is important that people understand that Syria has people who want the same things they want: peace, jobs, family and to live without the fear of bombs. If we win this award, it will show people across Syria that people around the world support them. It will give courage to every volunteer who wakes up every morning to run towards bombs."

The volatile political situation around the globe has left its mark on the Oscars ceremony. In January, the celebrated Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, whose film The Salesman is nominated for Best Foreign Picture, announced that he would not attend the ceremony — even if he were afforded a visa to do so — in protest of the US’s immigration ban. The film’s star, Taraneh Alidoosti, stated that she would boycott as well.

And in a nearly unprecedented move, the five directors whose films are nominated for Best Foreign Picture penned a joint letter released on Friday, February 24, expressing “unanimous and emphatic disapproval of the climate of fanaticism and nationalism we see today in the U.S. and in so many other countries.” The signees are Farhadi, Maren Ade of Germany, Martin Zandervliet of Denmark, Hannes Holm of Sweden, and Martin Butler and Bentley Dean of Australia.

“Human rights are not something you have to apply for,” the directors wrote. “They simply exist — for everybody. For this reason, we dedicate this award to all the people, artists, journalists and activists who are working to foster unity and understanding, and who uphold freedom of expression and human dignity — values whose protection is now more important than ever.”

Watch the trailer for The White Helmets:</s>Hollywood finally respects streaming services enough to give them Oscars.

Digital giants Netflix and Amazon both took home their first-ever Oscars on Sunday.

Iranian film The Salesman, which Amazon is distributing in the U.S., and Netflix's documentary The White Helmets won for Best Foreign Film and Best Documentary Short, respectively. Amazon and Roadside Attraction's Manchester by the Sea also took home two Oscars for Best Original Screenplay (Kenneth Lonergan) and Best Actor (Casey Affleck).

This marks the first time either service has picked up Hollywood's highest honor. It underscores their efforts to get acknowledged as part of the entertainment industry, rather than disrupters of it.

The popular streaming platforms have spent years paying their dues — making the rounds at all the major film festivals, courting top-tier talent and generating buzz with unique originals.

Last year Netflix aggressively campaigned for Beasts of No Nation, but was ultimately shut out of the Oscars race.

Its documentary division has always been a powerhouse. The streaming giant nabbed its first Oscar nomination in 2014 for its documentary The Square. Two years later it scored nominations for documentary features: What Happened, Miss Simone? and Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom. This year, Ava DuVernay's 13th was nominated for Best Documentary.

In 2015, Amazon Studios released its first fictional feature — Spike Lee's Chi-Raq — but that also received no awards recognition

This year, Amazon Studios' Manchester by the Sea had a whopping six Oscar nominations, including one for best picture (a first for a streaming service), making it more of a contender for the streamer's first Oscar.

Both Amazon and Netflix's efforts have finally paid off.

Amazon was technically the first to make Oscars history during the awards show with The Salesman.

Director Asghar Farhadi, who won his second Oscar for The Salesman, did not accept the award in person because he and other members of the film's cast boycotted the awards following President Donald Trump's travel ban.

"It’s a great honor to be receiving this valuable award for a second time," Iranian-American engineer Anousheh Ansari said, reading a statement from Farhadi on stage. "I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight, my absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of the other six nations who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S."

Not long after, Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara accepted the award for The White Helmets, which is about a Syrian rescue group of the same name.

The film's cinematographer, Khaled Khateeb, was barred from entering the U.S. on Friday.

In their victory speeches, both Lonergan and Affleck thanked Amazon and Roadside Attractions.</s>US bars Syrian cameraman from entering to attend Oscars after documentary nomination on emergency rescuers.

A Syrian cinematographer who worked on an Oscar-nominated documentary has been barred from entering the United States to attend Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony.

Despite being granted a US visa, Khaled Khatib, 21 - who documented Syria's civil war in the film The White Helmets - was scheduled to depart from the Turkish capital Istanbul on Saturday before US officials reportedly discovered "derogatory information" about him.

The US Department of Homeland Security at the last minute blocked Khatib from travelling to Los Angeles, saying he now needed a new passport waiver, according to documents seen by The Associated Press news agency.

Derogatory information is a broad term that includes a variety of allegations, ranging from connections to attacks to passport irregularities.

According to the Department of Homeland Security correspondence, Khatib was detained by Turkish authorities in Istanbul last week, which led to the US barring him.

"A valid travel document is required for travel to the United States," Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Gillian Christensen told AP.

It was unclear why he was arrested by Turkish authorities, and his current whereabouts are unknown.

Calls and emails to Khatib were not answered.

The incident took place less than a month following President Donald Trump's now suspended temporary travel ban, which restricted entry of people from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Syria.

Khatib along with fellow rescue worker Raed al-Saleh were both granted visas earlier this month to attend the Oscars on Sunday.

In a Twitter post, Saleh said on Friday they would not be attending the event because they are busy helping people caught in the conflict.

The White Helmets is a 40-minute Netflix documentary nominated in the Oscars' short documentary category. It gives a glimpse of the daily lives of the group - also known as Syria Civil Defence - whose members volunteer as emergency rescue workers in rebel-held parts of Syria.

Among the film's harrowing scenes are images of people digging through demolished homes searching for potential survivors after air strikes or artillery barrages.

Volunteer medical workers are at risk of being killed in "double tap" attacks that target first-responders arriving at the scene and many have died.

The group was also nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize last year.

Since the start of the Syrian war that erupted in March 2011, the United Nations estimates nearly 400,000 people have been killed and more than half the population has been forced to flee the country.</s>While we were expecting Amazon to score an Oscar first for Manchester by the Sea, Netflix ended up beating out that film with a Best Documentary (Short Subject) Oscar for The White Helmets. Directed by Orlando von Einsiedel, the film centers on a group of volunteer rescue workers for the Syrian Civil Defense Force, also known as "The White Helmets," who risk their lives to help civilians in that war-torn country. The group has saved more than 60,000 lives so far, and they've also been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. As you might have guessed, The White Helmets is available to watch on Netflix now.</s>“The White Helmets,” a documentary about volunteer rescue workers in Syria, took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Sunday.

It was the first Academy Award win for Netflix, which distributed the film.

Khaled Khatib, a cinematographer and press officer for the Syrian White Helmets, thanked supporters on Twitter.

“The world stands with the white helmets. Standing ovation at the Oscars. We have won,” he said.

The 40-minute film follows three rescue workers with the White Helmets — also known as the Syrian Civil Defense — who train in Turkey to provide emergency medical assistance to civilians caught in Syria’s civil war.

“If we win this award, it will show people across Syria that people around the world support them,” Khatib told CNN before the awards. “It will give courage to every volunteer who wakes up every morning to run towards bombs.”

Khatib was not able to fly to the United States to attend the event.

In a statement Sunday, the White Helmets said Khatib couldn’t attend the Oscars “due to his passport being canceled by the Syrian regime, despite having been issued a US visa specifically to attend the awards ceremony.”

The Syrian government did not comment on the claims.

When asked about Khaled’s situation, US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Gillian Christensen told CNN: “A valid travel document is required for travel to the United States.”

‘I wish this war would stop’

In an interview with CNN before the Oscars, Khatib spoke of his hopes for Syria as well as his experiences working with the White Helmets.

“I took a camera and started volunteering for (them) because I wanted the world to know what the White Helmets are doing and what is happening in Syria,” he said.

Khatib recalled the moment the White Helmets rescued a child from under the rubble during one of his first rescue missions.

“I recorded this moment. It got a lot of YouTube views, and I took the decision to continue my work,” he said. “It is easy for anyone to kill someone, but it’s very hard and very difficult to save lives.”

When asked about his hopes for the future, Khatib said he hoped to finish his education which had been put on hold by the war.

“I wish this war would stop tomorrow,” he said. “We want to rebuild Syria, rebuild the stores, hospitals, the markets and the universities. We want to liberate Syria and let the refugees return to the country.”</s>The White Helmets wins in best short documentary category at 89th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

A film celebrating the White Helmets - a volunteer rescue group that operates in rebel-held parts of Syria - has scooped an Oscar for best short documentary

The eponymously titled White Helmets, a 40-minute Netflix film, gives a window into lives of the group's volunteers as they scramble to pull people from the rubble of bombed out building flatted in bombing raids.

Accepting the Academy Award, director Orlando von Einsiedel urged the audience to stand up and call for an end to Syria's six-year civil war, which led to a standing ovation.

Von Einsiedel read out a statement from White Helmets founder Raed al-Saleh, in which he thanked the academy and said the group had saved tens of thousands of lives since it was formed in 2014.

"We are so grateful that this film has highlighted our work to the world. Our organisation is guided by a verse from the Quran: to save one life is to save all of humanity," Saleh's statement said.

"We have saved more than 82,000 Syrian lives. I invite anyone here who hears me to work on the side of life to stop the bloodshed in Syria and around the world."

READ MORE: Year of diversity at Oscars 'does little to even score'

Rescue workers in Syria are at risk of being killed in so-called "double tap" air raids that target them as they arrive at the scene of an air strike. The group says that many of its volunteers have been killed.

Syrian cinematographer Khaled Khatib who worked on the documentary was unable to attend after being barred from entering the United States , despite being granted a visa .

US officials reportedly discovered "derogatory information" about him, according to a document seen by the Associated Press news agency .

The film's producer Joanna Natasegara told AP on Sunday that the decision was "sad and confusing."

The incident happened after President Donald Trump's now halted temporary travel ban , which targeted seven Muslim-majority countries, including Syria.

The Oscars is the highlight of the Tinseltown calendar, and wraps up two months of glittering prize galas.</s>"The White Helmets," a documentary about volunteer rescue workers in Syria, took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Sunday. It was the first Academy Award win for Netflix, which distributed the film.

Cinematographer and press officer for the Syrian White Helmets , Khaled Khatib, did not fly to the United States to attend the event. He tweeted that though he was able to obtain a US visa, he would not be going due to the "intensity of work," also saying that "our priority is helping our people."

"If we win this award, it will show people across Syria that people around the world support them," Khatib said before the awards. "It will give courage to every volunteer who wakes up every morning to run towards bombs."</s>A Syrian cinematographer whose film was nominated for Best Documentary Short at the Oscars was barred from entering the country by immigration authorities.

Khaled Khatib, 21, was preparing to make his way to Los Angeles when there was a last-minute decision to block him from traveling because officials found 'derogatory information' on the young Syrian.

Khatib will now not be able to attend Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony, where his harrowing 40-minute Netflix documentary, The White Helmets, was nominated for an award.

According to internal Trump administration correspondence, the Department of Homeland Security decided at the last minute to block Khatib from traveling to Los Angeles for the Oscars.

Khatib was scheduled to arrive Saturday in Los Angeles on a Turkish Airlines flight departing from Istanbul. But his plans have been upended because of the 'derogatory information'.

Derogatory information is a broad category that can include anything from terror connections to passport irregularities.

Asked for comment, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, Gillian Christensen, said, 'A valid travel document is required for travel to the United States.'

He said in a previous interview with CNN: 'If I cannot enter the US, I will not give up: we know that we have many friends in US, that there are people that share our humanitarian values. I look forward to meeting them all one day.'

The White Helmets has been nominated for Best Documentary Short. If the film wins the Oscar, the award would go to director Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara.

Khatib is one of three people credited for cinematography; Franklin Dow is the film's director of photography.

The film focuses on the rescue workers who risk their lives to save Syrians affected by civil war. Many of the group's members have been killed by Syrian President Bashar Assad's air forces. The group also was nominated for last year's Nobel Peace Prize.

'The White Helmets' includes emblematic scenes of the deadly 6-year-old conflict: people digging through destroyed homes looking for survivors, at constant risk of 'double tap' attacks that target first responders after they've arrived at the scene of a strike.

He had been issued a visa to attend the ceremony with Hollywood's biggest stars. But Turkish authorities detained him this week, according to the internal U.S. government correspondence, and he suddenly needed a passport waiver from the United States to enter the country.

The correspondence indicated he would not receive such a waiver. There was no explanation in the correspondence for why Turkey detained Khatib.</s>The White Helmets may have won Best Documentary Short at the 2017 Academy Awards, but its cinematographer has been barred from entering the US to attend the ceremony, according to the Associated Press.

AP reports that the Department of Homeland Security blocked Khaled Khatib after discovering "derogatory information" about him, with Khatib having made plans to fly from Istanbul to Los Angeles the day before the ceremony.

Khatib was reportedly detained by Turkish officials earlier in the week for undisclosed reasons, needing a passport waiver which was denied; he had planned to attend the ceremony after the travel ban was lifted.

Trump had ordered a four-month ban on all refugees from entering the country as well as enacting an indefinite ban on all those who hail from Syria. For 90 days, visas were not to be issued to nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The Department of Homeland Security has since suspended all enforcement of Trump's immigration ban following a nationwide locking of the executive order from federal judge James Robart in Washington.



 Khatib was a member of the White Helmets, an organisation which searches for survivors in the rubble of bombed buildings, but served as cinematographer for the Netflix documentary.

To follow all the happenings at this year’s Oscars ceremony, check out our live blog here. You can find a list of all the winners here.
The Netflix "documentary" The White Helmets, a film about the Syrian Civil War, wins the Best Documentary Short.The cinematographer Khaled Khatib who is himself a member of the rebel-aligned group couldn't attend the ceremony because officials from the Department of Homeland Security discovered "derogatory information" about him.