No Other Land, which chronicles settler violence and the Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, won the Oscar for best documentary on Sunday night.
The film has won dozens of prizes since its release last year, including at the Berlin Film Festival and the New York Film Critics Circle Awards.
list of 4 items
list 1 of 4
list 2 of 4
list 3 of 4
list 4 of 4
end of listHere is more about the film, co-directed by Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers, and why the win is significant:
What is the film about?
The film was produced from 2019 to 2023 and comprises mostly personal camcorder footage filmed by Palestinian activist Basel Adra, 28, who documents the Israeli military’s destruction of his hometown, Masafer Yatta in a small, rugged region in the southern occupied West Bank.
The film highlights Israeli demolitions of homes in the village, which the Israeli military wants to turn into a military training zone. Its footage shows the Israeli military razing a school and filling water wells with cement, so residents cannot rebuild.
Adra made the film with Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, who co-directed it along with Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal and Israeli filmmaker Rachel Szor.
During his Oscar acceptance speech on Sunday night in Los Angeles, Adra said his film “reflects the harsh reality we have been enduring for decades and still resist as we call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people”.
“About two months ago, I became a father, and my hope to my daughter is that she will not have to live the same life I’m living now.”
Abraham said in his speech: “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 and Basel is under military laws that destroy lives, that he cannot control,” he said.
The film was released months after deadly Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered Israel’s war on Gaza.
At least 1,100 people were killed in the attacks in Israel, and about 240 people were taken captive. By the time a ceasefire took effect in Gaza on January 19, more than 48,000 Palestinians had been killed in the war. An estimated 13,000 additional people are buried under the rubble and are presumed dead. Rights groups have accused Israel of committing genocide.
#Oscars2025 🇵🇸 @basel_adra: “We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.” #NoOtherLand pic.twitter.com/2yVfryoAWC
— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) March 3, 2025
Where to watch No Other Land
Studios and distributors in the United States have refused to pick up the film. Even online streaming platforms in the US have not shown interest despite No Other Land being the highest grossing Oscar-nominated documentary.
Last year, the online streaming giant Netflix removed 24 Palestinian films from its archive, drawing accusations that Hollywood and the US media are suppresing Palestinian voices.
Abraham told The New York Times in an interview published on February 19: “In the US, so many people are writing us, ‘How can we watch it?’ So we decided to do the theatrical release independently, and it’s now going to show in about 100 theatres in the US.”
He added that he hopes a distributor would pick up his documentary.
Streaming links are few and far between. While there are links to rent or buy the documentary on Amazon UK, Microsoft, Sky Store and AppleTV, it is unclear which regions the documentary is available in.
Is this the first time Palestinians have won an Oscar?
Yes, this is the first time a Palestinian filmmaker has won an Oscar.
In 2006, the film Paradise Now, made by Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, was nominated for an Oscar for the best foreign language film with the country of origin being “the Palestinian territories”. In 2014, Abu-Assad’s film Omar was also nominated in the same category. This marked the first time the country of origin in the nomination was stated as Palestine.
Since then, other Palestinian films have been nominated for the awards but have not won.
This year, two other Palestinian films besides No Other Land were shortlisted but not nominated. From Ground Zero, a collection of 22 films made in Gaza, was shortlisted for the best international film award. An Orange from Jaffa highlights the perils faced by Palestinians due to Israeli checkpoints. It was shortlisted for the live action short film category.
Four Israelis have won Oscars so far.
In 2007, a West Side Story parody called West Bank Story won in the live action short film category. It was created by Jewish American filmmaker Ari Sandel, whose father is Israeli and mother is American.
Why is the win significant?
The win for No Other Land comes against the backdrop of intensifying Israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank since the Gaza ceasefire took effect. The West Bank operations have killed dozens of Palestinians and displaced more than 40,000 people.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in late January that the Israeli military was applying lessons learned during the Gaza war to their West Bank operations.
The West Bank is home to about three million Palestinians and more than 500,000 Israeli settlers.
The 1993 Oslo Accord called for a freeze on settlements, which are illegal under international law, but they have grown rapidly since, particularly under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The expansion of settlements has made the realisation of a two-state solution — a future sovereign Palestinian state living side by side with Israel — harder and harder.
More settlements have been announced since US President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
