No Other Land
Life in occupied Palestine is told from the inside by a Palestinian-Israeli collective.
Image courtesy of Dogwoof Releasing.
This fine documentary takes a close look at life in the network of Palestinian villages known as Masafer Yatta covering a period of some five years between 2019 and 2023. As such it is a humanitarian document about human suffering for this part of the West Bank is one in which the Israelis have systematically demolished the homes of the Palestinians living there. Although they claim that the land is a necessary site for military training, a secret document uncovered indicates that the real aim behind it was to block expansion by the Palestinians. Be that as it may, No Other Land simply sets out to show in vivid detail what has been experienced by those living in this area where their family history lies including all the pressure to move elsewhere even though they have no other land to which to go.
Inevitably this first-hand account brings to mind Mstyslav Chernov’s superlative 2023 documentary 20 Days in Mariupol, another record of human suffering, but there are nevertheless significant differences. In the earlier film the on-the-spot recorders of events were not residents of Mariupol but heroic representatives of the Associated Press concerned to record the cost to that city of the Russian advance. Here in contrast the focus is on the family of one of the four filmmakers, Basel Adra, but we naturally see other inhabitants too albeit that the Adra family whom we come to know as individuals in effect also represent the inhabitants of Masafer Yatta generally.
There is another focus, too, that one might not anticipate. While the footage shot with this film in mind starts in the summer of 2019, Basel Adra looks back on his childhood years there and on his realisation that his father, who ran a gas station, was like other family members an activist for the Palestinian cause. But he recalls too that it was a custom in that region to welcome all supporters whatever their background. That attitude is highly relevant to the film because the additional personal focus to be found here is on the friendship between Basel Adra and one of his co-directors, Yuval Abraham. Abraham had come to the area as an Israeli journalist disgusted with the actions taken by his country and anxious to put out reports that would inform the world of the consequent unjustified hardships being imposed on ordinary Palestinians including women and children.
No Other Land is honest enough to contain comments that it is not that easy to accept his presence when one considers what his countrymen are doing. Nevertheless, the involvement in the film of an Israeli does remind one of that recent documentary about Cyprus, The Divided Island, which was made by Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots acting together. Yet it should be stressed that because The Divided Island looks back on the history of the conflict there it was a political film albeit one that chose to make strong criticisms of the actions of both sides. In contrast to that, No Other Land concentrates directly on what the conflict between Israel and Palestine has meant for these ordinary villagers. The work’s deep humanity makes it unlikely that the filmmakers would be other than extremely sympathetic to innocent Israeli victims of Hamas but to go into such issues is simply outside this film’s purpose which lies in providing a local record of inhumane actions that could eventually force out even those long determined to stay in this enclave of villages.
Considered in these terms, this is an admirable film and one obviously made at personal risk to those involved since photographing events was often forcibly curtailed. The dramatic impact of No Other Land is less intense than what was captured in 20 Days in Mariupol because seeing horrifying events within a limited timescale is shattering whereas the situation in Masafer Yatta is one of drawn-out repetitive actions (as Basel Adra himself puts it: "They destroy us slowly"). But the emotion expressed is hardly less potent. No Other Land incorporates a subsidiary thread about a villager, Harun Abu Aram, who was shot by Israelis in a dispute over a confiscated generator and who, in consequence, was paralysed from the neck down. His mother speaks of how, not being allowed to create a better home for him (many of the locals live in houses that are no more than dirty caves and lack running water), his state of pain is such that she can only pray for his death. We learn in the film's concluding written statements that her wish was granted and her painful contribution highlights the tragedy that has overtaken this area. It is quite enough in itself to justify the filmmakers in their decision to make a documentary that is up-close and personal leaving it to others to consider the history and the politics that provide the wider context.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Harun Abu Aram, Farsi Abu Aram and members of Basel Adra’s family.
Dir Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor, Pro Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, Screenplay Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor, Ph Rachel Szor, Ed Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor, Music Julius Pollux Rothlaender.
Yabayay Media/Antipode Films-Dogwoof Releasing.
92 mins. Occupied Palestinian Territory/Norway. 2024. UK Rel: 8 November 2024. Cert. 15.
