Time: 95 Minutes
Director: Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor

I’ve known about No Other Land for a while; I knew that it was a documentary focussing on the occupation of the West Bank by Israel. I had been meaning to watch it for some time, but the limited distribution made that very difficult. I finally found an opportunity to watch it, and it’s just as hard hitting as people have said it was.

Considering the subject matter, it’s not surprising that No Other Land isn’t an easy watch. It’s an unflinching look at the plight of Palestinians under occupation along the West Bank, with the documentary focussing on Masafer Yatta specifically. It really is a document of ethnic cleansing; the footage of people being forced out of their homes and villages being destroyed really speaks for itself and can’t be denied. Of course, this documentary is especially relevant now due to certain recent events, but these horrors existed long before October 7 2023. It is visceral, infuriating to watch and undeniably horrifying, yet hard to look away from. There is also a real feeling of urgency throughout. Even among all the oppression and dehumanization, humanity is still on display here. We see the perseverance of Palestinians under oppression, their resilience in surviving and trying to get the world to pay attention to what’s happening to them. It’s also seen in the friendship between Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham. We really see into the lives of these people, especially Basel, and the conversations that we observe are hard hitting.

The overall direction is pretty good. While there are definitely more flashily made documentaries out there, No Other Land utilises footage very well. It feels so organic and personal, and as said previously, the images really do speak for themselves.

No Other Land is a powerful, unflinching, visceral, harrowing and urgent documentary about resistance and resilience in the face of oppression and occupation. Absolutely essential and important viewing whenever you get a chance to watch it.