Beating out fellow nominees “Sugarcane,” “Porcelain War,” “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” and “Black Box Diaries,” the Palestinian/Israeli documentary “No Other Land” won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar.
Helmed by the film’s two central figures, Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham, along with Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor, the tragic exposé reveals the long-held inequities faced by Palestinians in the community of Masafer Yatta in the West Bank.
“Masafer Yatta is completely under the Israeli military control. If we want to build a home, we need the permission,” said Adra. “In the past decade, Israel has made our life in these areas unlivable, preventing people to have clean water to drink, water for their animals, preventing people access to land where they can cultivate and feed their animals, preventing people to have homes or schools.”
Despite multiple wins across awards season–from Best Documentary Film at the 2024 Berlin Film Fest, where it had its world premiere, and despite being the top grossing Best Documentary nominee, the film still remains without an official U.S. distributor.
Cinetic Media has been handling its bookings at theaters across the country.
Abraham shared his thoughts on how “No Other Land” was kept from being seen and how he hopes that will change with the greater attention being put on it.
“It’s a crime if it’s not out there to be seen, and to spark conversations,” Abraham said. “Maybe some distributors are afraid to engage with the topic of Israel and Palestine, but isn’t this why we’re making documentaries, to spark conversations? Even if you label this as politically sensitive, I think anybody who watches the film leaves it feeling there’s a very deep truth in the film.”
“‘No Other Land’ wasn’t just a creative endeavor for me; it was an act of resistance,” said Adra. “By bringing the story of Masafer Yatta – and the issue of ethnic cleansing and home demolitions in the West Bank – to audiences worldwide, we did not seek to evoke sorrow or pity, but to inspire action, and urge people to join our struggle against the occupation.”
