‘No Other Land' wins Best Documentary Oscar: ‘We call on the world to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people'
No Other Land pulled off a major victory Sunday night, winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature despite being the film that no studio wanted. The Palestinian-Israeli doc shows the destruction of the occupied West Bank's Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers — and was deemed too politically charged to secure a U.S. distribution deal.
Directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor, the film chronicles a developing alliance between Adra, a Palestinian activist, and Abraham, an Israeli journalist. Since winning the Best Documentary prize at last year's Berlin Film Festival, No Other Land racked up a slew of awards including top honors from the International Documentary Association, Cinema Eye Honors, Gothams, and the National Society of Film Critics.
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"Two months ago I became a father and my hope is my daughter will not have to live the the same life I'm living now — always fearing home demolitions and forced displacements that my community, Masafer Yatta, is facing every day," Adra said during their acceptance speech. "No Other Land portrays the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist. We call on the world to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people."
Abraham added, "We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger. We see each other — the atrocious destruction of Gaza and it's people, which must end. The Israeli hostages, brutally taken on Oct. 7, who must be freed. When I look at Basel, I see my brother, but we are unequal. We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law. Basel is under military law that destroys his life and he cannot control it. There is a different path, a political solution...with national rights for both of our people. I have to say, as I am here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path. Why? Can't you see that we are intertwined? My people can be truly safe if Basel's people are truly free. There is another way. It's not too late for life for the living. There is no other way."
Earlier this year, the directors worked with Cinetic Media to facilitate theater bookings via Michael Tuckman Media. Following showings in New York and Los Angeles, No Other Land expanded to more than 20 theaters nationwide. The early success allowed them to self-distribute even further — and now it's the top-grossing documentary from this year's Oscar lineup with domestic box office of $438,000. The filmmakers weren't surprised by its success.
"Well, the film has distribution all over the world, and there's a really big demand for it in the United States, so you would expect a big distributor to jump on board," Abraham told Variety in December. "The film is very, very critical of Israeli policies. As an Israeli I think that's a really good thing, because we need to be critical of these policies so they can change. But I think the conversation in the United States appears to be far less nuanced — there is much less space for this kind of criticism, even when it comes in the form of a film."
No Other Land, which was in first place in the Gold Derby odds, beat Black Box Diaries, Porcelain War, Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat, and Sugarcane.
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