The documentary, “No Other Land,” which tells the story of the besieged community (and citizens) of Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank where Israeli forces are demolishing residents’ homes and evicting families from land they have lived on for generations, claiming the area is needed for military training, is the subject of a heated debate like no other documentary in the history of Hollywood’s Oscars for Best Picture in 2024, due to its content about the tragedy of forced displacement of Palestinians.

It is noteworthy that "Masafer Yatta" is a cluster of 12 Palestinian villages located in the city of "Yatta" south of the Palestinian city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Its residents have been suffering from the threat of permanent forced displacement for decades due to the occupation authorities' establishment of 10 settlements, outposts and "firing zones (918)" for military training.

Palestinians in the area have suffered damage that continually threatens their security of livelihood, due to the encroachment of settlements in violation of international humanitarian law (according to Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention), which prohibits the transfer of the civilian population under Israeli authority to the occupied territories.

Palestinians in these villages are beaten with sticks and stoned by settlers, their livestock is terrorized and scattered by riding horses or mountain vehicles to scare the herds, and dogs are released to attack shepherds and their sheep. They are also exposed to setting fire to their fields and cutting down their trees.

Directed by Palestinian filmmakers Basel Adra and Hamdan Bilal, alongside Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szur, No Other Land has been critically acclaimed and has garnered numerous accolades on the festival circuit. After winning Best Documentary at its Berlin International Film Festival premiere in February, the film has also picked up the same award at the Gotham Awards and from major critics groups in New York and Los Angeles. Just weeks ago, it received an Oscar nomination.

However, no American studio was willing to pick up the thriller, even though distributors usually spend this time of year excitedly bragging about their Oscar nomination totals.

“I still think it’s possible, but we’ll have to wait and see,” the directors told The New York Times last week. “There are clearly political reasons at play here that are affecting it. Hopefully, at some point, the demand for the film will be so clear and indisputable that there will be a distributor who is brave enough to pick it up and bring it to the public.”

Meanwhile, the filmmakers have embarked on a self-distribution plan that has put No Other Earth in 23 theaters in the United States; on the back of strong box office receipts, it will continue to be released in additional cities over the coming weeks.

Adra and Ibrahim are not just part of the film’s directing team, they are its main subjects. Adra, 28, grew up in Masafer Yatta and has been documenting forced displacement since he was a teenager. Over the course of the film, he builds a strong but tense relationship with Ibrahim, who lives in Jerusalem but travels frequently to Masafer Yatta to write about the situation there for an Israeli audience.

The two men spoke to The New York Times last week in a video call as they gathered at Adra’s home in Masafer Yatta. “I really want to say something very personal because even with the success of ‘No Other Land,’ things continued to get much worse,” said Adra, who detailed how his village was attacked again by armed settlers in the weeks leading up to the Oscar nominations being announced.

The filmmakers hope that the awards campaign will raise global awareness of the precarious situation in Masafer Yatta. To that end, they still dream of securing an American distributor who will help “No Other Land” reach a wider audience.

“We have been working on this for five years and Basil risked his life – I saw him get shot two or three times,” said Yugal Ibrahim. “It is just a small amount of courage to give it the status we think it deserves, and that the people of Masafer Yatta deserve. But we still hope that things will change,” the newspaper reported.

Asked about his ability to resist the feeling that things are getting worse, Basil Adra said: “When I reach a moment where I feel disappointed and hopeless, the people around me, especially those who keep losing their homes [support me]. For example, when I see or talk to someone who lost their home for the sixth time since 2018, and rebuilt it every time, this gives me some strength. Why should I give up when people want to stay on the land and fight for their land?!”

“The other thing is that I sincerely believe that this injustice cannot go on forever. Whatever force is against us, in the end if it is oppressing us in an immoral way, it will not last. I do not know what the end of this will be or how it could be, but I have faith that this cannot go on forever, so we have to keep fighting,” Adra added.

“There is obviously a strong sense of frustration, but I look at Basil who has a much harder life than I do, and as long as he continues to live his life, I feel like I have to continue as well,” Ibrahim said. “Even if reality is changing for the worse, it’s not like we know what would happen if there was no documentation – I think it’s fair to assume it would be even more terrible than it is. So I feel like the task of documentation is still very urgent.”

The Oscars will be held next Sunday, March 2, 2025, in Hollywood, Los Angeles.