Re: [LincolnTalk] GRLATA to screen Oscar-winning documentary NO OTHER LAND on Saturday May 3 and Monday May 5

[Sara Mattes]

We saw this moving film at Coolidge Corner, before the Oscar award. Each show was sold out. The show we attended received a standing ovation at its close. It does not pretend to be a classic documentary. It is a powerful presentation of the experience of living as a Palestinian and as an Israeli journalist in these times. Lincoln is lucky to have the opportunity to share this viewing, and each to come to their own conclusions. Sent from my iPad On Apr 30, 2025, at 10:42 AM, Jonathan Sheffi <jshe...@gmail.com> wrote:  While No Other Land is emotionally impactful, it presents a highly selective and distorted narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The film centers on the story of Palestinian activist Basel Adra and frames Israeli actions in the South Hebron Hills as part of a one-sided campaign of dispossession. However, this portrayal omits critical context, such as the fact that the territory in question—Area C of the West Bank—is under Israeli administrative control per the Oslo Accords, which the Palestinian leadership voluntarily signed. Israeli enforcement actions in this area often stem from unauthorized construction and security concerns, not arbitrary “ethnic cleansing,” as the film suggests. The film also fails to acknowledge the long history of Arab rejectionism and violence that led to Israel’s ongoing security posture. For example, between 2000 and 2005 alone, over 1,000 Israeli civilians were killed in terror attacks during the Second Intifada—many in cafes, buses, and schools. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, removing all settlements. The result was not peace, but the rise of Hamas, thousands of rockets fired at Israeli civilians, and the militarization of the Strip. This history—painfully absent from No Other Land—is essential to understanding Israeli skepticism toward concessions in the West Bank. Moreover, the film ignores internal Palestinian political dysfunction. Groups like B'Tselem and Adalah, frequently cited in such documentaries, rarely mention that the Palestinian Authority pays salaries to terrorists imprisoned in Israel—payments that rise with the severity of the attack. According to the PA’s 2023 budget, roughly 7% of its foreign aid is allocated to such stipends. These policies incentivize violence and undermine prospects for peace. Genuine progress requires dismantling the Palestinian political culture that glorifies martyrdom and denies Jewish indigeneity. Documentaries like No Other Land succeed at evoking sympathy but do so by omitting key historical facts, legal frameworks, and mutual responsibilities. We should seek a conversation grounded in complexity, not propaganda. I hope those engaging with the film will also read more balanced sources, such as Einat Wilf’s The War of Return, or any of Benny Morris’ historical writings, to understand the fuller picture. Thank you, Jonathan ᐧ On Tue, Apr 29, 2025 at 2:22 PM Stephen R. Low <steve....@gordianconcepts.com> wrote: The GRALTA Foundation screens The 2025 Oscar-Winner for Best Documentary No Other Land   Bemis Hall, 15 Bedford Road, Lincoln, AM:   Saturday, May 3 at 10 AM and 2 PM Monday, May 5 at 7 PM   ★★★★★ "Powerful Israel-Palestine documentary is essential viewing" (Click here to read the complete review in The Guardian)   Runtime: 96 Minutes Trailer: https://youtu.be/jOOgJICcxu0   Winner of 61 Awards, including Berlin International Film Festival, Panorama Audience & Berlinale Documentary Awards)            Boston Society of Film Critics & Online Film Critics Association, Best Documentary        Chicago Film Critics Association, Best Documentary European Film Academy Documentary Award, Prix Arte Gotham Independent Film Award, Best Documentary Feature New York Film Critics Circle Award, Best Non-Fiction Film   A 2024 Boston Palestine Film Festival selection, No Other Land has been screened at “selected theaters” throughout the United States and locally at Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theater and the West Newton Cinema. (See WBUR’s report on How Boston-area cinemas snagged No Other Land.)       This report on No Other Land’s Oscar win appeared in Haaretz, Israel’s oldest newspaper 'Together, Our Voices Are Stronger': Israeli-Palestinian Film 'No Other Land' Wins Oscar for Best Documentary 'We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together, our voices are stronger,' Yuval Avraham said in his acceptance speech, while co-director Basel Adra called for an end to 'settlers' violence, home demolitions and forced displacements' By Nirit Anderman and Haaretz   Mar 3, 2025 The 2024 film No Other Land, which documents life in the West Bank's Masafer Yatta region under abuse by Israeli authorities and settlers, has won the Oscar for best documentary. The documentary marks the directorial debut of four activists: Palestinians Basel Adra & Hamdan Ballal and Jewish-Israelis Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor who describe it as an act of resistance in the pursuit of justice amid the ongoing regional conflict. In his acceptance speech, director Yuval Avraham said, "We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together, our voices are stronger. We see […] the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people, which must end; the Israeli hostages, brutally taken in the crime of October 7, who must be freed." Avraham said about his codirector, "when I look at Basel, I see my brother – but we are unequal. We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law, and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life. There is a different path, a political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people." "And I have to say, as I'm here, the foreign policy in this country is helping block this path," Avraham added. "And why? Can't you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel's people are truly free and safe? There is another way. It's not too late for life, for the living." Co-director Basel Adra said that he became a father two months ago, and that his hope for his daughter is that "she will not have to live always fearing settlers' violence, home demolitions and forced displacements that my community, Masafer Yatta, is living and facing every day under the Israeli occupation." Adra added: "'No Other Land' reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist as we call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people." The film is a co-production between Palestine and Norway and also won the Panorama Audience Award for best documentary film and the Berlinale Documentary Film Award in 2024. Israel's Minister of Culture, Miki Zohar, called the film's win "a sad moment," saying that the film manipulates and distorts Israel's image to international audiences. "This is precisely why we passed a reform in state-funded cinema – to ensure that taxpayer money is directed toward works of art that speak to the Israeli audience, rather than an industry that builds its career on slandering Israel on the global stage," Zohar said. The Oscar win for the film "No Other Land" is a sad moment for the world of cinema. Instead of presenting the complexity of Israeli reality, the filmmakers chose to amplify narratives that distort Israel’s image vis-à-vis international audiences. Freedom of _expression_ is an… No Other Land raised an outcry in Israel following the winners' speeches at the Berlin International Film Festival calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and pleading with the German government to stop supplying weapons to Israel. Since then, the movie has won numerous prizes worldwide, including the Critics Choice Award (of American critics), the Gotham Awards, and the European Film Awards. It was filmed over five years (2019 – 2023), combining 20 years of documentation accumulated by the residents struggling against their eviction. In Israel/Palestine, the film is available for free online viewing, the directors said. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.

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