Israeli-Palestinian film No Other Land wins Oscar for best documentary

The documentary "No Other Land" has won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. This film tells the story of Palestinians struggling to protect their homes from demolition by Israeli forces, sparking widespread attention. The film's success highlights the importance of shedding light on critical issues and amplifying marginalized voices.

This film, a collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers, beat out other nominees, including "Bobi Wine: The People's President," "Four Daughters," "To Kill a Tiger," and "20 Days in Mariupol," to win the top prize at Sunday's awards ceremony. The film's success also reflects the power of collaboration and the profound revelation of important issues, demonstrating the impact of cross-cultural understanding.

Filmed between 2019 and 2023, the film documents Palestinian activist Basel Adra risking arrest to record the destruction of his hometown, Masafer Yatta. Israeli soldiers are demolishing the area for use as a military training zone, located at the southern end of the West Bank. Adra's appeals initially went unheeded until he met Yuval Abraham, a Jewish Israeli journalist, who helped him amplify the story's impact and bring it to a wider audience.

While accepting the award, Adra stated that "No Other Land" reflects the brutal reality that the Palestinian people have suffered for decades. "I became a father about two months ago, and I hope my daughter will not live like I do, always in fear of settlers, violence, house demolitions, and forced displacement, which is what my community experiences and tastes every day under the Israeli occupation," Adra said. He also called on the world to "take serious action, stop the injustice, stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people."

Abraham stated that they made the film because their voices together would be stronger. "We see each other: the terrible destruction in Gaza and its people must end. The Israeli hostages who were brutally taken in the October 7th crime must be released," he said. Abraham criticized the Israeli regime that is destroying Adra's life and stated that there is another way, a "political solution without national supremacy, providing national rights for both peoples." He further added, "Can't you see that we are closely connected? My people can only be truly safe if Basel's people are truly free and safe. There is another way. Everything is still possible for the living. There is no other way."

The film struggled to find a distributor in the United States, so its producers arranged a week-long screening at Lincoln Center in November to qualify for Oscar consideration. Sunday's Oscar win is the latest major honor for "No Other Land." It also won the Audience Award and the Documentary Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2024, as well as the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Non-Fiction Film.

The film relies heavily on camera footage from Adra's personal archives. He filmed Israeli soldiers bulldozing village schools and filling wells with cement to prevent people from rebuilding their homes. The film also shows residents uniting after Adra filmed an Israeli soldier shooting a local man protesting house demolitions. The man was paralyzed as a result, and his mother struggled to care for him while living in a cave.

More than 500,000 settlers reside in the occupied West Bank, which is also home to approximately 3 million Palestinians. Settlers have Israeli citizenship, while Palestinians live under military rule, with the Palestinian Authority administering population centers. Major human rights organizations have described this situation as apartheid, which the Israeli government denies, arguing that the West Bank is the historical and biblical heartland of the Jewish people and opposing Palestinian statehood.