No Other Land

I don't know the route to a happy Middle East any more than the next person; that it will never be achieved if Israel continues on its current path seems certain. Defenders of the Israeli state dislike the use of the term "settler-colonialism" to describe what has been happening, but it's hard to find an alternative for the bleak reality shown in this film, a collaboration between a Palestinian facing eviction from the family land in the West Bank and a sympathetic Israeli. That collaboration is perhaps the only heartening thing in an otherwise deeply depressing, but important, film. Tellingly, it was all shot before autumn 2023; it's hard to believe that anything has got better since then.

No Other Land was a quieter kind of angry than I was expecting, but I think that approach is the kind of thing that could well change a person's mind on the whole ordeal if they were to seek this out. I guess with documentaries on subjects like this, getting someone who already feels a certain way to watch this when they might want to otherwise resist an alternate point of view is the difficult part, but there's still a lot of madness in the world, and the approaches that have been taken to sway people haven't really been working.

So it's not that No Other Land reinvents the documentary genre as a whole, but I think it has a distinctive way of presenting its central thesis. It's not peaceful, but there is a quietness to it that will likely lead some people to reflect on what they might've thought about before. Again, if they were to watch No Other Land in the first place. That's a whole other obstacle. But the approach here is more than sound and it's quietly powerful, and I'd hope that's an ultimately effective way to do it.

This did have some slower moments as far as the editing goes, but there were other sequences that had fantastic editing, and there's some striking imagery in here, too. I don't think it's a perfect documentary but it is an important one ("important" is a word I'm sure every review of this has used, oh well). Watch it regardless of how you feel about the conflict in question and I think it will help, so long as you go in open-minded. It's not necessarily subtle (and it shouldn't be), but it isn't aggressive, and if it does change minds - which I hope it can - I think that might be the reason why.

One minute you're in your home, the next minute it's demolished by The Israeli Army, and further, you're not allowed to drive, and told it's illegal to be on the land, that reality is captured on film.

Where to begin, first off, it fully deserves the many accolades, it's not just a fascinating storyline and a daring piece of journalism, but it's actually a terrifically well made documentary, it's impressive.

There are no grey areas or 'misreading' of events here, it doesn't really matter which side of the fence you sit on, and whether you lean one way or the other, it will hammer home just how appallingly The Israeli Army behaved, against people who literally had nothing, and could offer zero credible resistance. You see what it is to live under occupation.

Several times it had me in tears, if you're not moved by it, I'd suggest there's something seriously wrong.

There are some astonishing moments, the scenes between Basel and Yuval are fascinating, two incredibly brave men.

Revealing, powerful and sobering, don't go in expecting any happy resolutions, as we all know this painful, excruciating war marches on.

This will make every liquid in your body boil with anger and rage, it's obscene. Please someone find a way to end this.

10/10.

The winner of this years Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars (despite not having a major distributor for release in the United States), No Other Land is a warts and all account of a relatively unknown struggle taking place in West Bank's Masafer Yatta region where local Palestinian residents are battle occupation at the hands of Israeli forces.

A collaboration between directors Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, with Abraham and Adra front and centre to this DIY as the two join forces to help protest and cover the multi-decade spanning battle, Land may not provide anything ground-breaking from a filmmaking sense but its a powerful reminder of the voice cinema can have when it comes to issues that deserve the publics attention.

Making for likable faces to a very confronting and traumatic subject matter, Adra and Ballal arm themselves with handheld cameras and phones to capture years worth of footage as the Israeli military undertakes an increasingly intense operation to flatten the Masafer Yatta community on its way to developing a "military training ground", amounting to a perilous and intense journey that acts as a heartfelt call to action to halt the mistreatment of this populated area of the West Bank.

There's no particular rhyme or reason to the way Land unfolds, a product of the fluid nature of the filming that was merely there to capture what was unfolding not manufacture it, Land may lack a central narrative destination there's little mystery as to why this little film that could has managed to make such a big mark across the globe over the past 12 months with it harbouring a humanistic message at its core that makes us all realise that day to day tensions and carnage in the Middle East is increasingly running at boiling point.

Not easy viewing by any stretch of the imagination, witnessing peoples lives be destroyed before your very eyes its hard to bare and Land refuses to shy away from the casualties of its examination as innocent bystanders are shot and beaten on camera, showcasing the harsh realities of what happens when a corrupt force is allowed to run rampant.

An important piece of modern day documentary filmmaking, Land isn't perfect and is unquestionably rough around the edges but its essential viewing to anyone with a keen interest in journalistic feature film and anyone seeking to gain insights into current global situations that we should all be across.

Final Say -

A worthy Oscar winner that shines a light on a little known yet important topic, No Other Land is an insightful piece of filmmaking bought to life by two invested and reasonable central figures.

4 petrol stations out of 5

Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)

Incredibly hard to watch, but vital. The viewpoint we in North America are not allowed to see. Documentation of the devastation wrought by modern day colonialism, which needs to remembered, and recognized. History is being made and it the film makers are telling the side of the oppressed, who have been ignored for too long. This film is a complete embodiment of what the people need to see and hear. The truth in this movie is unwavering and its depicted with live footage throughout the entire documentary, leaving no other conclusions to be made but the one that is in front of your eyes. Captivating for any fan of real life documentaries, this is as real as it gets.