‘No Other Land’ receives Best Documentary Oscar nomination despite no U.S. distribution deal
No Other Land, the Palestinian-Israeli doc that shows the destruction of the occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers, was among this morning’s 2025 Oscar nominees for Best Documentary Feature despite its lack of a U.S. distribution deal.
Directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor, the film chronicles a developing alliance between Adra, a Palestinian activist, and Abraham, an Israeli journalist. Since winning the Best Documentary prize at last year’s Berlin Film Festival, No Other Land has racked up a slew of awards including top honors from the International Documentary Association, Cinema Eye Honors, Gothams, and the National Society of Film Critics. Still, the film has yet to be released in America.
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“Well, the film has distribution all over the world, and there’s a really big demand for it in the United States, so you would expect a big distributor to jump on board,” Abraham told Variety last month. “The film is very, very critical of Israeli policies. As an Israeli I think that’s a really good thing, because we need to be critical of these policies so they can change. But I think the conversation in the United States appears to be far less nuanced — there is much less space for this kind of criticism, even when it comes in the form of a film.”
SEE 2025 Oscar nominations announced: See the full list
While U.S. distributors may not want to touch the politically charged film, Gold Derby has confirmed the doc will find its way into limited theaters with Cinetic Media facilitating bookings via Michael Tuckman Media. A rep for the movie told us they’re set to premiere in over 20 theaters nationwide, beginning Jan. 31 in New York and Feb. 7 in Los Angeles. Other cities expected to show the film include Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
Just last week, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire with the help of mediators from several countries, including both the incoming and outgoing U.S. administrations. As part of the deal, Hamas will release 33 hostages and Israel will free 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Joe Biden called it “one of the toughest negotiations I’ve been part of,” while Donald Trump took full credit, calling the “epic ceasefire agreement” a “first step toward lasting peace in the Middle East.”
Prior to the ceasefire, Abraham told Variety that No Other Land was proof Israelis and Palestinians could co-exist. “But today, if you just look at me and Basel, there can’t be coexistence if one side has no existence,” he said. “The Palestinians don’t have a state. Basel’s community, Masafer Yatta, is literally being erased from the map. It does not exist on the Israeli maps. That’s very significant because of course we want there to be peace and a political solution at the end of the day, but for that [to happen] we understand that there needs to be a struggle against the ongoing oppression that exists, so it can change.”
No Other Land will contend for Best Documentary Feature against Black Box Diaries, Porcelain War, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, and Sugarcane at the 97th Academy Awards, which will take place on Sunday, March 2. The ceremony, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will air on ABC and be live-streamed on Hulu.
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