Riz Ahmed has urged fellow actors and creatives to use their platforms to address humanitarian crises, including the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Sudan.
The Oscar-winning actor made the impassioned plea while accepting the Modern Pioneer Award at the Elle Style Awards in London, telling the audience, in which The London Standard was in attendance, it was the responsibility of artists to challenge narratives that “shrink the scope of what it is to be human.”
Speaking from the stage, Ahmed, who collected the honour from Stormzy, said: “It's necessary for us as creatives to remind ourselves with everything going on in the world that that's not extracurricular, that's the business of what we're dealing with, we're in the business of challenging narratives that kind of shrink the scope of what it is to be human.”
He continued by acknowledging the pressures of the industry, but urged his peers to find the courage to speak out: “That really is our role and, yes, we have to get the bag and make our bosses happy and be strategic but that is our role.
“So I would like to from the heart just like to embolden and invite everyone in this room that when they are faced with an opportunity to extend the scope of humanity to those places where it's not been extended - to places like Sudan, to places like Gaza - to speak on politicians and story spinners who are really trying to divide us and to try shrink the scope on what it is to be human.”
Ahmed, who recently welcomed his first child, admitted it was daunting to speak so candidly: “I’m s**ting myself coming up saying this right now.
“Sometimes you come out and say it, sometimes you put it into words, sometimes you put it in your heart as a prayer… but that is the business that we are in - to extend the scope of who and what is human. That’s what a pioneer is.”
The 41-year-old star, who won an Academy Award for his role in Sound of Metal, has long been outspoken on issues of representation and social justice.
He has previously highlighted the lack of diversity in the film industry and the challenges faced by British Muslims onscreen.
His call at the Elle Style Awards adds to a growing chorus of voices within entertainment urging cultural figures to use their influence.
On Monday, Ahmed along with fellow actors Olivia Colman, Javier Bardem and Aimee Lou Wood are among more than 1,300 film workers who have signed a pledge to refuse to work with Israeli film institutions “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”.
The Film Workers For Palestine pledge was also signed by the likes of Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Julia Sawalha, Miriam Margolyes, Ken Loach, and Juliet Stevenson.
The group said that “standing for equality, justice, and freedom for all people is a profound moral duty that none of us can ignore” and added that they “must speak out now against the harm done to the Palestinian people”.
