'No Other Land' by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four young activists has been made as an act of creative resistance on the path to greater justice.
Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land has been awarded Best Single Documentary – International, while the BBC production Life and Death in Gaza claimed the honour for Best Current Affairs Documentary at the Grierson British Documentary Awards in London.
No Other Land, widely praised for its storytelling, follows a Palestinian journalist and residents of a West Bank community resisting forced displacement after their land was declared an Israeli military firing zone. The BBC’s Life and Death in Gaza was filmed over the course of a year by four Palestinian journalists living through the realities of war.
The film marks the directorial debut of Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, created as part of a Palestinian–Israeli activist collective committed to documenting life under occupation. Shot between 2019 and 2023, the documentary captures the dismantling of a Palestinian community in Masafer Yatta and the residents’ struggle to remain on their land despite military pressure.
A co-production between Palestine and Norway, No Other Land premiered in the Panorama section of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival on February 16, 2024. It won both the Panorama Audience Award for Best Documentary and the Berlinale Documentary Film Award, before going on to secure the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 97th Oscars.
The film centres on Adra, a young Palestinian activist chronicling the destruction of Masafer Yatta, alongside Jewish Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, who helps document the community’s resistance. The documentary reveals the human toll of the conflict, including the paralysis and subsequent death of resident Harun Abu Aram after he was shot by an Israeli soldier while defending his property. It also portrays the community’s ongoing efforts to raise awareness, culminating in the fatal shooting of Adra’s unarmed cousin, Zakaria al-Adra, following the events of October 7.
Through its raw depiction of violence, endurance and solidarity, No Other Land continues to draw international attention to the lived experiences of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, reinforcing the film’s global acclaim and emotional resonance.
