Emad Burnat, the Palestinian film director who was detained at Los Angeles International Airport last week on his way to attend the 85th Academy Awards, didn't pick up an Oscar on Sunday night.

Burnat who arrived with his wife and his 8 years old son was hoping of winning an Oscar for his documentary film "5 Broken Cameras" which was nominated in the Best Documentary category alongside "Searching For Sugar Man," "How To Survive a Plague," "The Gatekeepers" and "The Invisible War."

 Burnat contacted Oscar-winning director Michael Moore to help him get into the country when he was held at the airport by US immigration officials. He released a statement about the detention in which he said: 

'Last night, on my way from Turkey to Los Angeles, CA, my family and I were held at US immigration for about an hour and questioned about the purpose of my visit to the United States. Immigration officials asked for proof that I was nominated for an Academy Awards for the documentary 5 BROKEN CAMERAS and they told me that if I couldn't prove the reason for my visit, my wife Soraya, my son Gibreel and I would be sent back to Turkey on the same day.

After 40 minutes of questions and answers, Gibreel asked me why we were still waiting in that small room. I simply told him the truth: 'Maybe we'll have to go back.' I could see his heart sink.

Although this was an unpleasant experience, this is a daily occurrence for Palestinians, every single day, throughout the West Bank. There are more than 500 Israeli checkpoints, roadblocks, and other barriers to movement across our land, and not a single one of us has been spared the experience that my family and I experienced yesterday. Ours was a very minor example of what my people face every day'.

You can read more about other broken cameras in Palestine on this link