The 2024 Canadian Screen Awards saw the best in Canadian movies and television being honoured for their contribution. Amidst this, Indian-origin actor Amrit Kaur received the award for Best Performance in a Leading Role (drama). While she was accepting her award, she gave a winning speech where she spoke up for Palestine. Her speech has gone viral on social media, and she is being lauded for using the platform to talk about crucial issues.
While accepting the award, Amrit Kaur spoke about colonization and mentioned how, as an artist, it is her job to speak up. Talking about how she plays the role of a Pakistani woman in Fawzia Mirza’s ‘The Queen of My Dreams’, she said, “Colonization pushed us to a place of division, genocide, and now two counties who once loved each other live in absolute vitriol.”
Kaur also spoke about Palestine and continued, “It’s a scary time to be an artist. I am scared. I am scared to speak up. But this honour reminds me that I am an artist. And as an artist, it is my job to feel and to empathize. And for those of you who are telling us artists not to speak up in fear of losing jobs, in fear of losing careers, in fear of losing reputation, you are telling us not to be artists. And I want to say to you people that I am an artist. And I refuse to sacrifice and live in the hatred of humanity. Ceasefire now. Free Palestine.”
Take a look at her speech here.
The video has fetched over 28K likes. Netizens have lauded the actor for speaking up. One user wrote, “I am from Gaza and thanks for supporting us, I watched your video, you are brave.” A second user mentioned, “Fearless, compassionate, a true artist! we love you! #freepalestine.” A third user said, “Best speech during the entire Canadian Screen Awards. Thank you for your courage and it was lovely to meet you. Congrats once more on your award.”
Kaur's speech comes after celebrities have lost projects due to publicly expressing their beliefs related to Gaza and Palestine. Notably, Melissa Barrera was fired from the ‘Scream 7’ cast last year for this reason. More recently, ‘Bridgerton’ star Nicola Coughlan disclosed that she was warned her career could be affected due to her public support for Gaza.
