Oscar for ‘No Other Land’ sends a crucial message

The Oscar for the Best Documentary went to Palestinian-Israeli production, ‘No Other Land’. It has been co-directed by Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Youval Abraham.

The film depicts the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) razing a Palestinian township, Masafer Yatta, to create a shooting range. This was shot on a camcorder between 2019 and 2023 by Basel, which involved risks of arrest. Yuval Abraham said that he made the film with Basel because together their voice would be stronger.

Basel, accepting the award, said, “About two months ago I became a father, and my hope to my daughter is that she will not have to live the same life I’m living now, always fearing settlers, violence, home demolitions and forcible displacements that my community is living and tasting every day under Israeli occupation.” Abraham said, “Can’t you see we’re intertwined – that my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe?”

Abraham had also made the pertinent observation about adopting a path where a political solution would mean no “ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people.” The generally accepted two-state solution had to be made from the Oscar stage so that the message reaches out to a larger number of people. Of course, Israel’s Culture Minister Miki Zohar described the film winning an award as a “sad moment for cinema.”

The Academy which chooses the winners has been courageous and creditable. There are many critics of Hollywood who are unhappy with its sanitised version of the life of Americans. But there are times when Hollywood recognises the efforts of filmmakers like Basel and Abraham for showing the harsh reality with its glaring injustices.

It is also true that the Oscar is unlikely to change the situation on the ground for Palestinians. The Israeli authorities are not going to change their ways. But the film is sure to sensitise people who watch the film, informing the public across the world about the burning problems.

Art needs the freedom to express its views though it may be most offensive to the governments. Hollywood with all its distortions and limitations does keep the flag of freedom of expression flying.

Hollywood had paid a price in the late 1940s and early 1950s when the anti-communist sentiment reigned supreme when the House Un-American Activities Committee was set up, and people were tempted to betray friends and colleagues. This was the infamous McCarthy era. There were conservatives and reactionaries inside Hollywood, but the industry had survived the onslaught with much of its flair for dissidence intact.

The Academy’s award for the Palestinian-Israeli co-venture is perhaps a tepid attempt to defy the American Establishment which is unabashedly pro-Israel. But the gesture is important. The entertainment industry is both rich and influential, and what it says has some value. It is also an affirmation that art is based on the humanist value system.

Political leaders and many opinion-makers might dismiss the views of the entertainment industry as of no consequence. But the message of the entertainment industry goes farther and deeper in the minds of people. So, it is important that decisions like the one awarding an Oscar to a politically sensitive film are made, and people sit up and take notice of it.

‘No Other Land’ is a stark reminder that Palestinians cannot be driven out of Palestine. And the Oscar for ‘No Other Land’ is an unambiguous affirmation of the film’s message. It is indeed a powerful way that artists remind those in power of what it is to be humane, to be just and to be compassionate. It is a necessary role that art plays in a brutal world.