“Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation, which has led to conflict for so many innocent people — whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza — all the victims of this dehumanization… how do we resist?” Glazer asked.

Glazer, who is Jewish, then dedicated the film’s win to Alexandria, a 90-year-old woman he met,while working on the film and who inspired one of the key characters in The Zone of Interest. She had worked for the Polish resistance at the age of 12, leaving apples for prisoners as she cycled through Auschwitz.