Earlier this month, No Other Land received the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. The documentary follows the West Bank community of Masafer Yatta as they fight against displacement due to settler violence and Israeli military demolitions. The film’s two directors, Basel Adra, a Palestinian filmmaker, and Yuval Abraham, an Israeli filmmaker, addressed the audience when accepting their award. Yuval emphasized the need for a political solution without ethnic supremacy and national rights for both peoples, while Basel expressed his concern for those affected by the continuing conflict.

Alongside Adra and Abraham, the film’s other directors, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal, were also in the global spotlight. Adrian Horton, an arts writer for Guardian US, discussed the challenges the film faced during production and its struggles leading up to the Oscars. However, despite its success, the documentary and its team have faced adversity. Just a few weeks after the awards ceremony, co-director Hamdan Ballal was attacked by settlers and detained by the Israeli military. He recounted the incident to Guardian correspondent Lorenzo Tondo and discussed the increased violence the Masafer Yatta community has faced since the Oscar win.

Tondo reported that many analysts believe settler violence is part of a broader attempt by the Israeli state to annex the West Bank during the current Trump presidency. Meanwhile, Adrian Horton noted that the current US administration has had a chilling effect on the distribution of some political documentaries.

A photograph shows Ballal holding the Oscar with the earth and vegetation behind him, symbolizing the connection between the natural landscape and the film’s message.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/mar/28/from-the-oscars-to-israeli-detention-the-attack-on-no-other-land-director-hamdan-ballal-podcast