“Tragedy cannot be the end of our lives. We cannot allow it to control and defeat us.” – Izzeldin Abuelaish, I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity
No Other Land (2024) marks a pivotal moment in documentary filmmaking–a movie of the moment that perfectly encapsulates the impending dark cloud looming over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that harshly escalated in 2024, providing a first-hand perspective into the ongoing conflict.
What began as a conscious effort by West Bank native Basel Adra, a Palestinian lawyer and activist, to film his people’s forced displacement and the gradual dismantling of his homeland developed into an unexpected partnership to spread the word.
Yuval Abraham, an Israeli journalist, aids Basel in his efforts, and over the course of four years (2019-2023), the pair work to track and catalog the Israel army’s aggressive demolition on the ground as an act of resistance.
Anyone who turned on the news last year has access to as much or as little knowledge as they wish on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, all depending on source, exposure, and editorial perspective. However, No Other Land uses its breadth of first-hand resources to show the conditions of Palestinians before the Hamas-led October 7th attack on Israel, which resultantly propelled the retaliation of over 45,000 Palestinians murdered.
Watching the briskly paced four years in real-time acts as a perfect entry point to understanding the less visible of the two perspectives.
The format of the documentary is quickly established and finds itself split into a rhythm between the harrowing footage and the permanent aftermath, ranging from direct orders for Palestinian communities to vacate their homes which are then destroyed to IDF retaliation for actions committed out of frustration.
Adra’s community of Masafer Yatta, a collection of Palestinian villages located in the southern West Bank in the southern Hebron Hills, has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, but an assigned campaign to demolish and transfer the community expedites the cause.
Over the course of No Other Land’s 96-minute runtime, we see countless civilians lose their homes, given minutes (if that) to gather any belongings, and forced to shelter in nearby caves for temporary refuge. Families, the elderly, children, and the disabled are forced to fend for themselves, listening in on the anguish caused by a staggering lack of humanity.
Alongside Masafer Yatta activist Hamdan Ballal and Israeli cinematographer Rachel Szor, the footage that Adra and Abraham provide of those displaced is haunting enough as perspective, only to remember that the events are all pre-October 7 and the worst has yet to come.
However, a sense of underlying optimism in the face of the occupation Adra’s community faces accompanies the disheartening lows featured in interviews with the community amidst and after the destruction occurs. It’s an undercurrent that never excuses the atrocities we see on display but helps to balance the breathless tension exhibited by the film’s documented atrocities.
The relationship between Adra and Abraham is given the proper time to develop, as the pair use segments of the runtime to discuss the differences in their lives. Adra lives in constant fear of occupation, while Abraham is the subject of scrutiny as an Israeli working in occupied Palestine.
Because the directors were able to shake a scripted feel, the film’s methodical spurts where Adra and Abraham find their footing help give the film a throughline that provides the pair an earned mutual perspective, yet never resorts to “whataboutism” or both-sides rhetoric.
No Other Land is always fiercely determined in its mission to show inhumanity at its most vile yet find whatever shred of humanity there is to cling to in its wake.
It’s a miracle that this footage even exists. Presented in its edited form, it is a piece of filmmaking created with strategy and finesse from beginning to end. No film demands to be seen from 2024 more than No Other Land.
Review Courtesy of Landon Defever
Feature Image Credit to Berlinale via Variety