New York [US], March 4: No Other Land, a film about Palestinians fighting to protect their homes from demolition by Israel's military, has won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
The collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers triumphed on Sunday over Porcelain War, Sugarcane, Black Box Diaries and Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat.
The film, produced between 2019 and 2023, follows activist Basel Adra as he risks arrest to document the destruction of his hometown, Masafer Yatta, which Israeli soldiers are tearing down to use as a military training zone, at the southern edge of the West Bank.
Adra's pleas fall on deaf ears until he befriends a Jewish-Israeli journalist, Yuval Abraham, who helps him amplify his story.
Accepting the award, Adra said No Other Land reflects the harsh reality Palestinians have been enduring for decades.
"About two months ago, I became a father, and my hope to my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I'm living now, always fearing settlers, violence, home demolitions and forcible displacements that my community is living and tasting every day under Israeli occupation," said Adra.
He also called on the world to "take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people".
Abraham said they made the film because together, their voices were stronger.
"We see each other: The atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people which must end. Israeli hostages, brutally taken in the crime of October 7th, which must be freed," he said.
Abraham criticised the Israeli regime that destroys Adra's life, and said there is a different path, a "political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people".
But the United States' foreign policy is helping block that path, he said. "Can't you see that we're intertwined - that my people can be truly safe if Basel's people are truly free and safe? There is another way. It's not too late for life for the living. There is no other way," he added.
The film has struggled to find a distributor in the US, so its makers arranged for it to have a one-week run at the Lincoln Center in November in order to qualify for the Oscars.
The Oscar on Sunday is the latest high-profile honour that No Other Land has gained. It also won the audience award and documentary film award at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2024, as well as the New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Non-Fiction Film.
The film is heavily reliant on camcorder footage from Adra's personal archive. He captures Israeli soldiers bulldozing the village school and filling water wells with cement to prevent people from rebuilding.
It shows residents banding together after Adra films an Israeli soldier shooting a local man who is protesting the demolition of his home. The man becomes paralysed, and his mother struggles to take care of him while living in a cave. (Agencies)
Source: Qatar Tribune
