Palestinian-Israeli film No Other Land made history at the Oscars on Sunday. Despite being a co-production, it's the first prize won by Palestine at the Oscars and depicts the struggles faced by journalist Basel Adra as he attempts to protect his West Bank village Masafer Yatta from Israeli settlers.
While a handful of Palestinian films have been nominated over the years, what is the relationship between the Academy Awards, one of the industry's biggest nights, and the Palestinian cause? And which films or talents from the occupied West Bank and Gaza have been recognised?
Here's a brief history of Palestine at the Oscars.
Vanessa Redgrave's acceptance speech, 1978
On April 3, 1978, English actress Vanessa Redgrave won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in the drama Julia. After paying tribute to the writer of the film, Lillian Hellman, she ended her speech with a message directed to the Palestinian people. “And I salute you, and I pay tribute to you, and I think you should be very proud that in the last few weeks you've stood firm, and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums,” she said. “I salute you and I thank you and I pledge to you that I will continue to fight against anti-Semitism and fascism.”
Redgrave’s presence at the awards had already garnered protests by Zionist groups outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on the day of the ceremony, but they were equalled by supporters of Palestine. The attention was brought on by a documentary titled The Palestinian, in which Redgrave interviews members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and its leader, Yasser Arafat.
Promises, 2002
Israeli-American filmmaker BZ Goldberg directed Promises, a documentary film in which he interviews Palestinian and Israeli children in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The film was nominated for Best Documentary in 2002. While being produced and directed by Americans and Israelis, the film examines the conflict and occupation from the point of view of seven Palestinian children.
The Oscar in the category that year went to Murder on a Sunday Morning, which centres on the Brenton Butler case, in which a 15-year-old black boy was wrongfully accused of murder in Jacksonville, Florida.
Divine Intervention, 2002
Elia Suleiman’s film Divine Intervention was nominated by Palestine to represent it in the Best Foreign Language Film (now called Best International Feature Film) category. The nomination was rejected by the Academy, who justified their decision by saying that Palestine was not internationally recognised as a country.
The decision was met with pushback, as many had pointed out that territories such as Hong Kong and Puerto Rico had been allowed to nominate films to the category in the past. The Academy changed the rules soon after and allowed Divine Intervention to be entered in the running the following year. Unfortunately, it did not make the final list of nominees.
Paradise Now, 2006
The first Palestinian film to be nominated for an Academy Award was Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now. The film follows two childhood friends who are tasked with carrying out a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
After its nomination, pro-Israel groups pressured the Academy into changing the film’s country designation from Palestine to Palestinian Authority, a decision protested by Abu-Assad. Eventually, the film’s country stated Palestinian Territories. The film lost the Oscar to Tsotsi, about a young street thug who steals a car with a baby in the back seat, from South Africa.
Ajami, 2010
Palestinian Scandar Copti and Israeli Yaron Shani directed Ajami, a film which represented Israel in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It follows five people who live in a part of Tel Aviv housing Muslim and Christian communities.
The duo became the first Palestinian-Israeli pair to have a film nominated. The trend continued in 2013 with 5 Broken Cameras and again this year with No Other Land. Ajami lost the Oscar to The Secret in Their Eyes from Argentina.
5 Broken Cameras, 2013
Palestinian Emad Burnat and Israeli Guy Davidi direct 5 Broken Cameras, a documentary that follows a Palestinian farmer as he attempts to chronicle the aggression he faces from the Israeli army.
The film was nominated for Best Documentary Film at the 2013 Academy Awards. The film lost the Oscar to Malik Bendjelloul’s documentary Searching for Sugar Man, which is about two South Africans looking to find what happened to the musician Sixto Rodriguez.
Omar, 2014
Hany Abu-Assad earned Palestine its second nomination in 2013 for the film Omar. The film follows a young man in the West Bank who regularly jumps over the dividing wall to see his girlfriend. During one of his jumps, he is captured by Israeli soldiers and gets tortured and humiliated by them. The act spurs him to get revenge.
Omar was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2015 Academy Awards, representing Palestine. The film lost the Oscar to The Great Beauty, which is about an ageing writer from Italy who recollects his youth.
Ave Maria, 2016
Directed by Basil Khalil, this independent comedy short set in Palestine tells the story of a group of Israeli settlers who unexpectedly depend on Palestinian nuns for rescue. Though it was a strong contender, it ultimately lost the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film to the Irish film Stutterer, about a man rendered mute by a crippling stutter.
The Present – 2021
The short film The Present marks the directorial debut of British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi. It follows Yousef, portrayed by Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri, as he sets out to buy an anniversary gift for his wife. However, the journey becomes nearly impossible due to the hardships of life under Israeli occupation.
The film ultimately lost the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film to Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe's Two Distant Strangers, which examines the deaths of black Americans during encounters with police.
Artists4Ceasefire, 2024
At last year’s Academy Awards ceremony, many film professionals, including actors and directors, wore pins symbolising their support for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Artists4Ceasefire collective had earlier called on then-president Joe Biden to push for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the delivery of necessary humanitarian aid to those affected.
Artists who wore the collective's pin included American director Ava DuVernay, actor Mark Ruffalo, British actor and rapper Riz Ahmed, French actors Milo Machado-Graner and Swann Arlaud, American-Egyptian comedian Ramy Youssef and pop stars Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell.
The ceremony also witnessed a speech by British director Jonathan Glazer, whose film The Zone of Interest won two Oscars, Best International Feature and Best Sound.
“Our film shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst – it’s shaped all of our past and present,” Glazer said in his controversial speech. “Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether it’s the victims of October 7 in Israel or of the ongoing attack on Gaza, all are victims of this dehumanisation.”
No Other Land, 2025
No Other Land's Best Documentary Feature marks Palestine’s first-ever Oscar win. The film follows Palestinian journalist Basel Adra as he fights to safeguard his West Bank village, Masafer Yatta, from Israeli settlers. Adra, who shares co-director role with Israel's Yuval Ibrahim, called it “a big honour”.
“About two months ago, I became a father. I hope my daughter will not have to live the same life I'm living now: always fearing settler violence, home demolitions and forced displacements that my community and myself are living and facing every day under the Israeli occupation,” Adra said on stage.
“This is 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 Palestinian people.”
Despite already winning a handful of awards, the documentary has largely been shunned by studios and has been self-distributed by the film's production team in the US, despite finding distribution in 24 countries including the UK and France.
In his speech, Abraham added that the film was made by both Palestinian and Israelis “because together, our voices are stronger”.
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
The specs
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Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Brief scores:
Toss: South Africa, chose to field
Pakistan: 177 & 294
South Africa: 431 & 43-1
Man of the Match: Faf du Plessis (South Africa)
Series: South Africa lead three-match series 2-0
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Racecard
6.35pm: The Madjani Stakes – Group 2 (PA) Dh97,500 (Dirt) 1,900m
7.10pm: Evidenza – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,200m
7.45pm: The Longines Conquest – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 2,000m
8.20: The Longines Elegant – Conditions (TB) Dh82,500 (D)
8.35pm: The Dubai Creek Mile – Listed (TB) Dh132,500 (D) 1,600m
9.30pm: Mirdif Stakes – Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (D) 1,400m
10.05pm: The Longines Record – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,900m
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Brown/Black belt finals
3pm: 49kg female: Mayssa Bastos (BRA) v Thamires Aquino (BRA)
3.07pm: 56kg male: Hiago George (BRA) v Carlos Alberto da Silva (BRA)
3.14pm: 55kg female: Amal Amjahid (BEL) v Bianca Basilio (BRA)
3.21pm: 62kg male: Gabriel de Sousa (BRA) v Joao Miyao (BRA)
3.28pm: 62kg female: Beatriz Mesquita (BRA) v Ffion Davies (GBR)
3.35pm: 69kg male: Isaac Doederlein (BRA) v Paulo Miyao (BRA)
3.42pm: 70kg female: Thamara Silva (BRA) v Alessandra Moss (AUS)
3.49pm: 77kg male: Oliver Lovell (GBR) v Tommy Langarkar (NOR)
3.56pm: 85kg male: Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE) v Rudson Mateus Teles (BRA)
4.03pm: 90kg female: Claire-France Thevenon (FRA) v Gabreili Passanha (BRA)
4.10pm: 94kg male: Adam Wardzinski (POL) v Kaynan Duarte (BRA)
4.17pm: 110kg male: Yahia Mansoor Al Hammadi (UAE) v Joao Rocha (BRA
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Mobile phone packages comparison
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Team Angel Wolf Beach Blast takes place every Wednesday between 4:30pm and 5:30pm
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
Bangladesh tour of Pakistan
January 24 – First T20, Lahore
January 25 – Second T20, Lahore
January 27 – Third T20, Lahore
February 7-11 – First Test, Rawalpindi
April 3 – One-off ODI, Karachi
April 5-9 – Second Test, Karachi
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Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
