“No Other Land” is up for Best Documentary Feature Film at this year’s 97th Academy Awards, yet the film has not been picked up by a distributor. The film’s limited theatrical release is being self-financed for the second time by its filmmakers in the wake of its nomination. This comes after the filmmakers did the same for its initial limited release at the end of 2024.
The documentary is an unflinching look at the Israeli military’s continued destruction of Masafer Yatta, a group of Palestinian villages in the southern West Bank. It was co-directed by two Palestinian filmmakers, Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal, and two Israeli filmmakers, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.
The film will arrive at San Francisco’s Roxie Theater and screen from Feb. 14 to at least Feb. 27. Ahead of its official run, the Roxie held an advance screening on Feb. 9, which sold out. Those in attendance watched in silence, save for stifled cries and a wave of gasps when it was revealed that a majority of the footage was captured before Oct. 7, 2023.
The film covers Adra and Abraham’s efforts as journalists from 2019-2023 to document Israel’s destruction of Adra’s homeland of Masafer Yatta and the suffering the Israeli military wreaks upon the natural citizens of the land. Adra and Abraham gradually bonded, despite the tensions inherent to their relationship, as they risked life and limb to get eyes and ears around the world on Masafer Yatta.
“I know the people involved, I’ve been there half a dozen times since 2016 on different delegations with the Center for Jewish Nonviolence,” said Jim Haber, an activist and member of Jewish Voice for Peace and Center for Jewish Nonviolence. “First in 2016, then I was there last July on the outskirts of Masafer Yatta. I can’t believe that it’s nominated for an Oscar and without distribution. That speaks to the interest and support of people, despite the lack of support by governments, and that the true narrative is breaking through more than we might think.”
That interest and support has manifested at the Roxie, something that Gabriella Siaton, the Roxie’s assistant theater manager, can attest to.
“We’ve had a lot of success with showing Palestinian films and especially since this one’s been getting a lot of buzz, it pushed us to show this film,” said Siaton. “The reception has been pretty good, I think a lot of people have been coming here pretty grateful that we’re showing these films.”
The crux of the documentary, Israel’s destruction of Palestine, is a matter that is and has been important to many San Francisco State University students, especially in the wake of the events of Oct. 7, 2023. In Spring 2024, SFSU students erected an encampment on the campus quad in solidarity with Palestinians fleeing Israel’s attacks on Gaza and other territories within the state.
Vi Lee and Brian Yan were two of those students. As members of SFSU’s Asian Student Union and Student Union, respectively, they spoke to the importance of Americans witnessing Israel’s destruction of Palestine through the media.
“The politicization of the American people on the issue of Palestine has been possible because these stories have been made so widely available through movies like ‘No Other Land,’ but also through social media,” said Yan. “Interacting with people outside your own culture makes you more empathetic to people across the world, to have that solidarity with people across the world.”
Lee’s participation in last year’s encampment reshaped their views on community and understanding other cultures’ pain and history through real documentation.
“Knowing that full history is really important to understand how things got to where they are today because it’s not an isolated incident out of nowhere,” said Lee. “It’s important to learn this history from people who have actually been affected by it and are experiencing such intense trauma and to not just look at stuff on Instagram, so documentaries are a really beautiful way of doing that.”
“No Other Land” is not easy to watch at the moment as the lack of a distribution deal has kept most audiences from the chance to see it. Soon, that won’t be true for San Franciscans. “No Other Land” debuts at the Roxie on Feb. 14 at 6:30 p.m.
