No Other Land
An impassioned and eye-opening piece of documentary activism by an Israeli–Palestinian film collective, awarded Best Documentary at the Berlinale.
Basel Adra has faced threats for recording his life in the group of villages in the occupied West Bank known as Masafer Yatta. While military law casts a shadow over the Palestinian lawyer’s everyday existence, Israeli investigative journalist Yuval Abraham, with whom he has struck an unlikely friendship, enjoys a civilian life that is starkly more comfortable. Directing alongside Israeli journalist and cinematographer Rachel Szor and Palestinian activist and photographer Hamdan Ballal, the pair use handheld cameras and archival footage to capture the unbowed resilience of Palestinians slowly banished from their homes as well as the profound interplay of despair and determination seen in this context.
Winning not just the Berlinale’s top documentary prize but also Audience Awards at Berlin, CPH:DOX and Visions du Réel, this hauntingly cinematic gut-punch is at once a moving account of a bond formed across conflict lines and a must-watch chronicle of human tenacity amid hostilities. Much like the earlier films Arna’s Children (MIFF 2004) and 5 Broken Cameras – also products of Palestinian–Israeli collaboration – No Other Land bravely forges forward in using the camera as a tool for championing justice and peace.
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