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Broadcast Pro
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Broadcast Pro
Palestinian documentary ‘No Other Land' to stream in MENA from April 1
This film by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four young activists has been made as an act of creative resistance on the path to greater justice. No Other Land, an acclaimed documentary chronicling the friendship between a Palestinian activist and an Israeli journalist amidst the ongoing conflict in the occupied West Bank, will be available across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) starting April 1. The film can be rented or purchased on OSN Store via set-top boxes and Apple TV, priced at Dh19.99 for rental and Dh49.99 for purchase. Front Row Filmed Entertainment recently secured distribution rights for the documentary across the MENA region. Front Row plans to imminently release the film theatrically in select cinemas, followed by a premium VOD release across the MENA. Directed by Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, No Other Land follows Adra's journey as he documents the destruction of his hometown, designated for military training. With the support of Abraham, the film amplifies the urgent reality of displacement and resistance. The film is an act of resistance documenting the ongoing conflict in the region. A co-production between Palestine and Norway, it had its world premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won both the Panorama Audience Award for Best Documentary and the Berlinale Documentary Film Award. Since then, it has amassed 68 awards from global film festivals, including honors from the Boston Society of Film Critics, the European Film Awards and the Gotham Independent Film Awards. The documentary reached a historic milestone by winning Best Documentary Feature at the 2025 Academy Awards—making history as the first documentary to claim an Oscar without a traditional distribution deal. Facing hurdles in securing US distribution, the filmmakers opted for self-distribution in collaboration with Cinetic Media, which facilitated theatrical bookings. The film premiered on February 2 in a single-screen debut, grossing $26,000, and subsequently expanded to 120 screens, surpassing $1.2m in box office earnings over four weeks. No Other Land provides an intimate portrayal of life in Masafer Yatta, a rural area of the West Bank where Palestinian villagers face the ongoing threat of expulsion by Israeli Defense Forces, who claim the land for military training. The documentary follows the journey of Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta, as he fights against the mass displacement of his community. Since his childhood, Adra has captured the demolition of homes and the forced removal of residents under military occupation. His story intersects with that of Abraham, an Israeli journalist who supports his efforts. Despite their collaboration, the stark disparity between their lives — Adra's under occupation and Abraham's in freedom — strains their partnership. Filmed over four years from 2019 to 2023, the documentary wrapped production in October 2023, offering a deeply personal and urgent account of life under occupation.
The National
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Oscar-winning film No Other Land to release in the Middle East on April 1
No Other Land, the Oscar-winning documentary film, will be available across the Middle East and North Africa from April 1. The Palestinian-Israeli co-production, which follows the struggles faced by inhabitants of occupied West Bank village Masafer Yatta as they try to protect their homes from demolition by Israeli settlers, will be available to rent and buy on OSN Store as well as Apple TV. The film, which has struggled to find a major distributor in the US, was acquired by Dubai distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment for the Mena region. No Other Land is co-directed by two Palestinians – Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal – as well as Israelis Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. Its triumph at the Academy Awards earlier this month was the first time a documentary has won an Oscar without an American distributor. It was also Palestine's first Oscar win. The film has received many accolades since its premiere last year at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won best documentary. It has also won top prizes from the Gotham Awards, International Documentary Association and Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards. It has also drawn fury in Israel and abroad. Earlier this month, the mayor of Miami Beach in Florida, US, proposed ending the lease of a movie theatre that screened the documentary. Steven Meiner later dropped his proposal after a majority of city commissioners opposed his plan. No Other Land grabbed global headlines on Monday when Ballal was attacked in his village of Susiya in the West Bank, which features heavily in the film. 'He was attacked by soldier-settlers and then abducted by soldiers – so we have no idea what happened, we just don't know,' co-director Adra told The National. Witnesses of the attack told The National that a dozen masked Israeli settlers, some armed, descended on the village. Ballal suffered injuries to his head and stomach, according to co-director Abraham. The trio were released on Tuesday afternoon from a police station in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba. Ballal had bruises on his face and blood on his clothes, and the three were driven to a hospital in the neighbouring Palestinian city of Hebron. After his release, Ballal told reporters soldiers and settlers beat him and threatened him with guns. 'The soldiers shot three times in the air,' he said. He was blindfolded and had his hands tied while in detention and made to sit under the air conditioning. 'I was freezing all night.' Ballal said he was assaulted by settlers when he filmed them attacking his neighbour's house. 'I went there to document what was happening there.' The global film community had earlier condemned the attack on Ballal, and demanded his immediate release. Front Row Filmed Entertainment also released a statement about the attack. 'We express our unwavering support for Hamdan Ballal, Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham and the No Other Land team,' the distributor said, and urged the film industry to 'unite in solidarity with those who dare to challenge the status quo'.
