Palestinian-Israeli film No Other Land earns Oscar nomination for best documentary

The acclaimed film, which follows a Palestinian journalists to preserve his West Bank village, has faced controversy since its debut in Venice and has been shunned by movie studios

No Other Land has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film despite not finding a distributor in the United States. Courtesy Yabayay Media/ Antipode Films

Palestinian-Israeli film No Other Land has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2025 Academy Awards.

The documentary, which follows the struggles faced by Palestinian journalist Basel Adra as he tries to protect his West Bank village Masafer Yatta from Israeli settlers, has received numerous accolades since its premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival last year, including top prizes from the Gotham Awards, International Documentary Association and Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards.

Co-directed by Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, the film has yet to find a distributor in the United States and has been shunned by movie studios despite finding widespread acclaim there and achieving distribution in 24 countries including the UK and France.

Adra told Variety earlier this month that an Oscar nomination would increase awareness of the documentary. “I really advise everybody in the US who has heard about No Other Land to watch it. It’s important for people to watch it so they can understand what’s going on.

“And we hope people … don’t just watch it to feel sad or sorry for us, but to join our struggle and our movement and take action. Especially in the US which, as a country, is a main player in what’s going on. Americans have a responsibility, I believe, and I hope that they watch it and move in the right direction and take any action they can in order to help us change.”

Palestinian director Basel Adra, left, and Israeli director Yuval Abraham have faced a backlash in Israel for their documentary. AFP

Three million Palestinians and about 500,000 Israeli Jews call the occupied West Bank home and, according to Israeli non-profit Peace Now, more than 50 square kilometres were annexed in 2024 – more than in any previous calendar year.

Controversy erupted in February after Abraham, while receiving the top documentary prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, criticised Israel's attacks on Gaza and branded his country's actions in the West Bank “apartheid”.

“I am living under a civilian law and Basel is under military law. We live 30 minutes from one another, but I have voting rights and Basel does not have voting rights,” Abraham said. “I am free to move where I want in this land, and Basel, like millions of Palestinians, is locked in the occupied West Bank. This situation of apartheid between us, this inequality, it has to end.”

The speech sparked an outcry in German media, with politicians accusing him of being anti-Semitic. Israeli media also aired a small segment and labelled it as anti-Semitism. Abraham later said he was unable to return home as a result, with threats made to him and his family.

“A right-wing Israeli mob came to my family’s home yesterday to search for me, threatening close family members who fled to another town in the middle of the night,” he posted on social media at the time.

“I am still getting death threats and had to cancel my flight home. This happened after Israeli media and German politicians absurdly labelled my Berlinale award speech – where I called for equality between Israelis and Palestinians, a ceasefire and an end to apartheid – as 'anti-Semitic'.”

No Other Land was the only film by an Arab filmmaker to be nominated for this year's Academy Awards. From Ground Zero, a collection of 32 short films from Gazan filmmakers, was shortlisted in the Best International Feature Film category but failed to achieve nomination. Hollywoodgate from Egyptian director Ibrahim Nash'at, also shortlisted in the documentary category, was not nominated, nor was An Orange from Jaffa from Gaza-born filmmaker Mohammed Almughanni, shortlisted in the Best Live Action Short Film category.

In the Shadow of the Cypress from Iranian filmmakers Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani was nominated in the Best Animated Short Film category.