The Zone Of Interest producer: Gaza conflict reminds us of ‘selective empathy’

The Zone Of Interest producer James Wilson has said what is “going on in the world, in Gaza” reminds people of “selective empathy”.

Wilson spoke to the PA news agency on the Baftas red carpet about whether the film about the Holocaust had produced a conversation about war and violence today.

He said: “I had a friend that texted me the other day, he said he couldn’t stop thinking about the walls we build in our daily lives that we don’t choose.

“There’s obviously things going on in the world, in Gaza, that remind us starkly of the sort of selective empathy, that there seems to be groups of innocent people being killed that we care about less than other innocent people.

“And that seems so clear.

“Frankly, actually, because we get asked about that a lot, I think that’s always happened.

“And the difference between how our political elite, how we respond to that compared to refugees from Ukraine, say, there are obviously these walls and I feel that reflected back in the way people, particularly young people, are receiving it.”

When asked about how current events echo this film, the actor who plays Nazi SS officer Rudolf Hoss in the film also said “we have to learn from the past, but sometimes I have the feeling, it’s so difficult to learn from the past”.

German actor Christian Friedel also said he was “really surprised about this recognition” of the film which shows Hoss living next to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

“The shooting was so close to the original to the camps, and every day you felt the responsibility towards the victims and to be honest, I can’t understand these characters, ‘how can you live? How can you go to work every day kill millions of people go home and say, I love you and I love the kids?’”

The film is nominated for multiple Baftas including outstanding British film.