The harrowing Holocaust drama “ The Zone of Interest,” which explores questions of complicity while depicting the mundane lives of a Nazi family in their home adjacent to the Auschwitz death camp, won the Academy Award for best international film.

“Our film shows where dehumanization leads, at its worst,” said writer-director Jonathan Glazer, who is Jewish. “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, this dehumanization, how do we resist?”

Glazer’s reference to Israel’s war in Gaza came after pro-Palestinian protesters snarled traffic around the Dolby Theatre as the Oscars kicked off.

Glazer said he hopes the film will draw attention to current world conflicts.

“All our choices are made to reflect and confront us in the present. Not to say, ‘Look what they did then,’ rather ‘look what we do now,” he said.

Sandra Hüller, one of the film’s stars, wept as Glazer’s hands shook while reading his acceptance speech.