A Palestinian film produced by a Palestinian journalist and an Israeli film director has earned an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary at the 97th Academy Awards.
‘No Other Land’, nominated under the documentary feature film category, centres around the struggles Palestinian journalist Basel Adra faces as he tries to save his occupied West Bank village from Jewish settlers.
The film is a production by Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham and garnered widespread acclaim at the Berlin International Film Festival, the International Documentary Association and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards.
The West Bank village of Masafer Yatta, which the film focuses on, has long been attacked by Israeli settlers and its residents forcibly expelled in what has been heavily condemned by human rights groups.
Earlier this year, Adra told reporters he would love to see the film earn an Oscar nomination to help spread awareness on the issues it highlights and also to help find a US distributor for it.
“I really advise everybody in the US who has heard about No Other Land to watch it. It’s important for people to watch it so they can understand what’s going on” he told Variety.
“Don’t just watch it to feel sad or sorry for us, but to join our struggle and our movement and take action. Especially in the US which, as a country, is a main player in what’s going on” he continued.
He also called on people to take action and join the campaign to save Palestinian residents from being pushed out of their homes and their land forcibly taken.
“Americans have a responsibility, I believe, and I hope that they watch it and move in the right direction and take any action they can in order to help us change,” he said.
