Controversial Israeli-Palestinian film wins Oscar

A film co-directed by an Israeli-Palestinian collective showing Palestinian activists protecting their homes from demolition by the Israeli military won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.

“No Other Land,” which was filmed between 2019 and 2023, focuses on Israeli soldiers tearing down homes and evicting residents of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, to create a military training ground. Although it won the Berlinale documentary award at the Berlin Film Festival last year, it could not find distribution in the U.S. and so was released independently.

Hollywood’s decision to award the film its highest honor showcased the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on center stage, 17 months after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre and at a time when dozens of hostages still remain held in Gaza.

“‘No Other Land’ reflects the harsh reality that 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 the Palestinian people,” Palestinian co-director Basel Adra said on accepting the award.

“We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger,” said Israeli co-director journalist Yuval Abraham. “We see each other, the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people which must end, the Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7, which 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 and Basel is under military law that destroys his life and he cannot control.”

Employing language used by the Israeli Left before the massacre, Abraham added: “Can’t you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe? There is another way.”

Israel’s Culture Minister Miki Zohar lamented the film’s win as a “sad moment for cinema,” due to the “distorted” view it offered, and called it an act of “sabotage” against the State of Israel still reeling from the single worst attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

“Instead of presenting the complexity of Israeli reality, the filmmakers chose to amplify narratives that distort Israel’s image vis-à-vis international audiences,” he wrote on X. “Freedom of expression is an important value, but turning the defamation of Israel into a tool for international promotion is not art—it is sabotage against the State of Israel, especially in the wake of the October 7th massacre and the ongoing war.”

“This is a propaganda film that serves the false Palestinian narrative, and seeks to undermine the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the international arena in order to cause boycotts and sanctions of IDF fighters,” said Meir Deutsch, director-general of the Israeli NGO, Regavim.

Separately, American actor Guy Pearce who starred in “The Brutalist,” wore a ‘Free Palestine’ pin at the 97th Academy Awards ceremony, while dozens of anti-Israel activits protested outside the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

“It’s the least we can do,” he said. “I’m just always on the case of trying to recognize Palestine and it having as much support as it possibly can because it’s what it absolutely needs.”

American actor Adrien Brody won best actor for his performance as a Holocaust survivor in that film, two decades after getting the same Oscar in “The Pianist,” another award-winning Holocaust film.

© JNS