No Other Land, the Israeli-Palestinian documentary, took home the award for the Best Documentary Feature at the 97th Academy Awards. As directors Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal went up the stage to receive the honour, their powerful acceptance speech was quick to make headlines.
The four directors took the opportunity to speak about the Israeli-Gaza war, requesting a “political solution” to the distressing situation.
Basel Adra, a Palestinian journalist and activist, hoped that “serious actions” are taken “to stop the injustice and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people.” He said, “About two months ago, I became a father, and I hope for my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I am living now. No Other Land reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist.”
Yuval Abraham, an Israeli journalist, revealed that No Other Land aimed to put an end to the sufferings of both Israelis and Palestinians. He said, “We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together, our voices are stronger. We see each other, the destruction of Gaza and its people, which must end, the Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of Oct. 7, which must be freed.”
Yuval Abraham highlighted the “inequal lives” led by him and Basel Adra.
He said, “We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life and he cannot control. There is a different path, a political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people.”
On a concluding note, Yuval Abraham had one big question in mind: “Why can't you see that we are intertwined, that my people can be truly safe if Basel's people are truly free and safe?”
Here's the video:
No Other Land is about the life of a Palestinian family (Basel Adra) who are forcefully displaced from their home in the West Bank by the Israeli government. Amid the chaos and destruction, Basel forges an unexpected friendship with a Jewish Israeli journalist (Yuval Abraham).
No Other Land premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last year.