The West Bank-based film No Other Land has won this year’s best documentary feature Oscar.
The film, which is made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective, won out against competition from Black Box Diaries, Porcelain War and Sugarcane.
No Other Land premiered at the Berlin film festival last year where it won the Berlinale documentary award. The film was made between 2019 and 2023 and focuses on the steady forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes in Masafer Yatta, a region in the occupied West Bank targeted by Israeli forces.
Speaking to a standing ovation, the film-makers thanked the Academy before co-director Basel Adra said he had recently become a father and hoped his daughter’s life would not be like his – “always fearing certain violence, home demolitions and forced displacement”.
He continued by saying his film reflected “the harsh reality” that his fellow Palestinians had endured for many years, “as we call on the world to take serious action to stop the injustice and stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people”.
Co-director Yuval Abraham then took to the stage to say that Palestinians and Israelis had made the film together “because together our voices are stronger. We see each other the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people must end.
“Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7 which must be freed. When I look at Basel I see my brother but we are unequal. we live in a regime where I am free under civilian law but Basel has to live under military laws that destroy his life and he cannot control.
He continued: “There is a different path. A political solution. Without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people. And I have to say, as I am here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path.
“Why? Can’t you see that we are 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.”
Despite acclaim, the film could not find distribution in the US and was self-distributed instead. The Guardian’s Adrian Horton called it “straightforward, un-sensationalized and completely infuriating” in a five-star review.
“I believe it’s clear that it’s for political reasons,” co-director Yuval Abraham told Deadline about the lack of formal distribution. “I hope that it will change. We basically decided not to wait on the theatrical release because the demand in the United States is now so high for the film, and we are now releasing it in almost 100 theaters independently. And we’re seeing everything is sold out.”
Since the Hamas attack on 7 October, Israeli forces have killed at least 48,200 Palestinians while forcibly displacing 2 million survivors.
Last year saw 20 Days in Mariupol win the award.
Read more about the 2025 Oscars:
Anora takes home best picture Oscar
Adrien Brody and Mikey Madison win best acting prizes
Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldaña win supporting awards
Anora’s Sean Baker wins for directing, editing and screenplay
