The film was awarded at the Berlinale – but also causing reactions.

It is the story of a place that has occupied Israeli politics, courts and international diplomacy for decades. The reason for the Masafer Yata area in the West Bank, which in the early 1980s was declared by the Israeli army as a military training area. In 2022 Israel’s supreme court approved the demolition of approximately 20 Palestinian villages, where a total of around 1,000 residents resided. This development worried the German government, which called on Israel not to continue with this plan. These are the facts.

The documentary “No Other Land” by a group consisting of both Israelis and Palestinians presents the emotional side of the case from the perspective of the Palestinian residents.

The first images shown in the film were taken in 2019 by Basel Andra, a young man from Masafer Yata. They show some women trying to save their belongings from their house before it is demolished by a bulldozer under the watch of a group of soldiers. Palestinian families seek shelter in a cave carrying their washing machines and sofas. “When I see what is happening, I get so angry that I want to throw stones,” says Andra’s father. “But I hold back.”

“What do you care?”

Yuval Abraham, an Israeli journalist, comes to the area. He speaks fluent Arabic and wants to write about what the Israeli army is doing – the “crimes”, as he says. In one scene of the film, a soldier asks him: “What do you care?” And Abraham replies: “I care, because all this is done in my name.”

Andra and Abraham become friends and shoot the documentary together. Until October 2023 they witness the same ordeal again and again: bulldozers, demolitions, soldiers, some people trying to rebuild their homes in secret, others resisting, others being arrested.

A film that caused a stir at the Berlinale

“No Other Land”, now in cinemas, was awarded the Best Documentary Award and the Audience Award at this year’s Berlinale. However, with the hype that was created around the film, the awards took second place.

A number of filmmakers have been openly critical of Israel – with their stance being characterized by others as biased and anti-Semitic. The Central Council of Jews spoke of “ideological hatred against Israel and the Jews.” The violence against Israelis, especially the terrorist attack by Hamas a few months earlier, was barely mentioned at the event. Even Abraham, who spoke of “a state of apartheid” between Israelis and Palestinians, was accused of anti-Semitism. The journalist rejected the accusations as completely absurd, stressing that members of his grandfather’s family had been murdered by the Germans in the Holocaust.

A different perspective

However, “No Other Land” sheds light on only one aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, presenting in a clear way who is the good and who is the bad of the story. Nevertheless, the film allows us to see things through a different perspective, a perspective that is often pushed aside. A documentary that puts you in an uncomfortable position – if only for 90 minutes.

Edited by: Giorgos Passas