Documentariestend to point outward, with filmmakers capturing the subjects they see, but with new generations and technology, the medium has increasingly shifted the camera inward, into selfie mode. Over the past decade or so,more and more documentarieshave focused on the people making the documentary itself, just as social media has become an interconnected and international documentary project with humanity as the subject. The self-reflexive tendency to document one’s own life has become secondhand nature for younger generations, each one of us crying out in tiny voices, “I exist!” That is often the purpose of documentary filmmaking, after all — capturing the state of something for all to see. For the filmmakers ofNo Other Land, this act is as much about art as it is about survival.
No Other Landis directed and edited by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor, a collective of Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers who have been documenting the community of Masafer Yatta in the West Bank for years. Cameras are often used to hold people accountable and prevent brutality (think bodycams and cell phones), and in the West Bank, filming acts of violence could literally save lives. Israel’s campaign to ethnically cleanse the West Bank is a fundamentally violent one that is condemned worldwide. It isn’t being stopped, though. The Israeli government knows the power of images and videos (hence their enforced refusal of journalists in Gaza), and understands that documentation of their most heinous actions could increase global castigation to a breaking point.
Thus,No Other Landserves as a shield of sorts for its filmmakers. It’s a rallying cry for righteous justice and an honest first-person document of an atrocity, but it’s also much more than that. It’s about friendship and power relations, human resilience, the nature of protest, the patience required for political change, and the meaning ofdocumentary filmmaking itself. It’s arguably the best documentary of 2024, and recently earned a coveted Oscar nomination for that category. It hasn’t received wide distribution in America due to its so-called sensitive subject, but will begin playing at certain theaters and is available online if you’re clever. you may find that information at the bottom of the article.
You Can Leave Any Bias at the Door for ‘No Other Land’
No Other Land
A Palestinian-Israeli collective of four documents the destruction of the occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers and the friendship which develops between the Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval.
First, there are obvious presuppositions that will attract some audiences toNo Other Landand fully repel others. For instance, if you think the West Bank is Israeli territory, you’re at an impasse with the very existence of this film. That shouldn’t be a deal-breaker though.
Whatever your beliefs, the West Bank is where Basel Adra, one of the filmmakers behindNo Other Land, lives, and this is where he fights to survive. Whether you are politically aligned with Adra or not — whether you agree that he has a right to live where his family has lived for generations —No Other Landwill at the very least convince you of his humanity and passion. You will certainly not think Adra is an “animal,” as Palestinians have been referred to be Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
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For everyone else,No Other Landis an incredibly intimate and astonishing achievement. For context, the West Bank is a territory that has historically belonged to Palestinians, and their land has appeared on maps dating back to the 19th century. Israel, however, considers it to be their own territory, and has been trying to build settlements and military training zones there for decades. After a lengthy court case ended and Israel declared their right to the territory, they began “mowing the grass,” which is what they call bulldozing ancient villages, schools, and playgrounds. The filmmakers place us on the receiving end of the bulldozers.
The Cycle of Destruction & Protest in the West Bank
Adra, like his father before him, is a political activist. The camera has been practically a relative his entire life. We see footage of him growing up and of people in his village from previous years. As time goes by, he becomes the one holding the camera, just as activism is often passed down. He and the people of Masafer Yatta are very familiar with the generational cycle of oppression and rebellion that the Palestinians have faced ever since they were displaced by Israel in the Nakba of 1948 (and even earlier, with British colonial rule).
No Other Landis extremely thoughtful about this cycle of protest and how it wears people down. There is resilience on display, yes, but also depression and fatigue. Basel nearly slips into an understandable nihilism at points, as does his new friend, Yuval Abraham. It’s easy to see why, considering the Israelis continuously drive their bulldozers and tanks into the Palestinian villages and turn everything into rubble. As someone says in the film, though, Israelis know how to destroy; Palestinians know how to build. And so the cycle continues, with Basel and the people of Masafer Yatta refusing to leave their land.
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This leads to some incredibly intense moments inNo Other Land, literally life-or-death moments. We see the dirt and sky shake and twist as Basel runs for his life while holding the camera, and we hear him breathing heavily as he hides from military forces who are looking to arrest him. Again, this film isn’t just a selfie, it’s self-portraiture as survival.
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Yuval is an Israeli journalist who can travel freely between the West Bank and Israel, unlike the Palestinians. He is “on their side,” and it’s fascinating to see him interact with Basel’s family, Palestinian villagers, and the IDF (Israeli Defense Force). The power imbalance is palpable, but there’s also compassion and acceptance. Yuval is almost like Paul Atreides fromDune, genuinely aware of his privilege and wanting to shed it to help the oppressed.
The relationship between Basel and Yuval is deep and beautiful to watch develop. They discuss their dreams, their past, their melancholy, and how to protest effectively. He stays with Basel’s family, eats with them, and helps them rebuild. He tries to block IDF forces from hurting Palestinians, knowing that they wouldn’t kill an Israeli like him. And yet, we see the scorn and bitterness on some people’s faces, with one man telling Yuval that he’s a race traitor and threatening his life. He and his family have had to leave their Israeli homes after being hunted down by a right-wing mob. But at the end of the day, Yuval gets to get in his car and leave this place. It’s heartbreaking to watch a despondent Basel wave goodbye as the headlights fade down that dark road.
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There are many other wonderful subjects in the film, as well. Like Fellini’sAmarcord, for most ofNo Other Land, we simply spend time with the varied people of a small village, getting to know them and their troubles. Basel’s father seems like one of the greatest men alive, honestly, though that comes across naturally;No Other Landnever tries to be saccharine or dramatic, and you never feel manipulated. People are presented honestly, not heroically. This is their life, every day.
The Palestinian Future, or Lack Thereof
After watching five years transpire inNo Other Land, and knowing what’s happening in the Middle East right now, it’s painful to see that nothing much has changed for the West Bank. Settlers have begun starting fires there recently, and violence has increased. Netanyahu may outright annex the West Bank with the help of Trump’s administration.
Meanwhile, the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas officially began on Aug 01, 2025, and has been understandably celebrated by many after 15 months of what Amnesty International calls a genocide in Gaza. Officially speaking, 47,283 Palestinians have been killed (though the number is expected to be much, much higher than that) and 111,472 wounded since August 24, 2025, when Hamas forces killed 1,195 Israelis and took 248 hostages.
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The situation is by no means over, though. Just hours after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire was agreed upon, an Israeli sniper shot andkilled a 12-year-old in Gaza. Israeli forces have opened fire on Palestinian citizens attempting to return to the rubble they once called home in the north, and have continued to kill and injure Gazans.
And so, one might ask, what was the point of it all? What’s the purpose of this documentary? Well, there’s no telling how much worse things might have gotten for Masafer Yatta if the filmmakers weren’t documenting the events there. Additionally,No Other Landhas brought more attention to the West Bank than it’s received in arguably decades. The film won the Berlinale Documentary Award and the Panorama Audience Award for Best Documentary Film. It recently received an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature Film, and it has good odds. Will that change the fact that the American government sends billions of dollars in weaponry to Israel each month? Maybe, maybe not, but perhaps it gets the Palestinians one step closer to freedom.
No Other Landbegins its exclusive NYC theatrical engagement at Film Forum on Jul 03, 2025.Find showtimes, tickets, and information here.No Other Landis available to stream online in the UK and Irelandhere through Dogwoof Releasingor eventhrough BFI Player here; a VPN set to anywhere in the UK may allow you to stream the film from anywhere in the world.
