Joseph Moser
How can a cross-cultural friendship thrive amid devastating conflict? How will the world respond to this destruction? These are two of the urgent questions at the center of “No Other Land,” the searing, Oscar-winning documentary about Palestine’s West Bank. Four collaborators — Palestinians Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal and Israelis Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor — made the film between the years 2019 and 2023 to bear witness to the destruction of the farming region of Masafer Yatta. Although the film concerns that specific period, it has everything to do with what is happening in Palestine today.
“No Other Land” glimpses into the past at the childhood and family history of co-director Adra via decades-old videos and expository voice-over, but its primary mode is observational. With firsthand footage, it shows the demolition of Palestinian homes and the displacement of families, such as Adra’s, who have lived on this land for generations. The avowed purpose of these demolitions is to clear the area for an Israeli military training site.
At the same time, the film portrays the burgeoning friendship between Adra and Abraham, an Israeli journalist, and it uses their relationship to nurture a fragile sense of hope. When Abraham first appears, one of the residents mockingly calls him a “human rights Israeli,” and he admits, “Something like that,” before stating, “I think it’s a crime,” to describe what his nation is doing to this region. Later, following a demolition, co-director and Masafer Yatta resident Ballal asks Abraham, “How can we remain friends?” It’s a question Abraham struggles to answer, but though he has the privilege of returning to a comfortable home in Israel, his actions throughout the film prove his commitment to the people of this West Bank community.
The documentary is structured according to confrontations and reflections. Both in their twenties and boldly idealistic, Adra and Abraham take their cameras and run toward the trouble when Israeli civilians and soldiers roll into Masafer Yatta to present evacuation orders and carry out demolitions. In quieter scenes, Adra and Abraham bond while smoking and discussing their goals and fears. Their warmth and humanity emerge in these moments, as when Adra chides his new friend for being too “enthusiastic” and acting as if their work can end the occupation in “ten days.” Then Adra sums up their struggle with a clear-eyed, self-deprecating mantra: “It requires patience. Get used to failing. You’re a loser.”
Along with this inspiring portrayal of a friendship forged in adversity, the film offers striking images of sunsets, nighttime cityscapes, and winter snow, courtesy of cinematographer and co-director Rachel Szor, a relatively unsung creative force behind the project. The film begins and ends with darkness, but between those bookends Szor presents many starkly beautiful compositions of a fascinating landscape. The splendor is fleeting, of course, as the gritty footage of destruction provides a grim counterpoint.
Even viewers numbed by news and movie footage of violence will be shocked by the calculated devastation with which “No Other Land” confronts us. As Adra says in voiceover, “They destroy us slowly: every week, a home.” But the demolition goes well beyond homes, targeting the community’s capacity to care for its children and at times escalating into deadly attacks against residents.
In a telling moment, an aggressive Israeli settler comes after Adra and Abraham and sneers, “Idiot, go home, write an article.” He is betting on the apathy of the outside world, but each viewer has a choice to make in interpreting this settler’s actions and this powerful film.
The story chronicled in “No Other Land” continues to unfold. In late March, a few weeks after sharing the Oscar win with his collaborators, co-director Hamdan Ballal was assaulted by an Israeli settler in Masafer Yatta, then arrested by Israeli soldiers and beaten while in detention. The Israeli military claimed that Ballal and other Palestinian villagers were throwing stones at Israeli settlers, an allegation that Ballal denies. He was released the day after his arrest. On April 10, the three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation signed a letter urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to investigate the circumstances of the attack on Ballal and to deter further aggression by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, citing “escalating violence in the West Bank.”
Like the film itself, Ballal’s ordeal compels us to engage with a conflict that is too easy for most Americans to ignore. As a title at the end of “No Other Land” states, “The expulsion of Masafer Yatta is ongoing.” Their past is prologue. In an interview, Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra said they want viewers to feel “dread,” “hope,” and “responsibility” upon leaving the film. “We hope that they will act,” said Adra. See this heartening, devastating film, then decide how to answer his challenge.
No Other Land plays at the Savoy Theater through April 17.
