At the 2025 Academy Awards, No Other Land, a documentary on Palestinian displacement under Israeli occupation, won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature on March 2, 2025.
Co-directed by Palestinian journalist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, along with filmmakers Rachel Shor and Hamdan Ballal, the film follows Adra documenting the destruction of his hometown, Masafer Yatta, in the southern West Bank, where Israeli forces are demolishing homes to turn the area into a military training zone.
In his acceptance speech, Adra spoke of his newborn daughter and his hopes for a better future.
“Two months ago, I became a father. My deepest wish for my daughter is that she never experiences my life—constant fear of settlers, violence, home demolitions, and forced displacements. No Other Land portrays the reality we endure daily in Masafer Yatta under Israeli occupation. We continue to resist and call on the world to act against this injustice and ethnic cleansing,” Adra said.
Abraham used the stage to criticize Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the system of inequality.
“We made this film together as Palestinians and Israelis because our voices are stronger united. The destruction of Gaza must stop, and the Israeli hostages taken on October 7 must be freed. When I look at Basel, I see my brother, yet we are not equal. I live under civilian law, while Basel is subjected to military rule that destroys his life. There is another way—a political solution without ethnic supremacy, ensuring national rights for both peoples. But U.S. foreign policy is blocking this path,” Abraham said.
The documentary has won widespread acclaim, securing the Audience Award and Documentary Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2024, as well as the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Non-Fiction Film.
Despite its success, No Other Land has faced opposition from German and Israeli authorities and remains without mainstream distribution in the United States.
