“They have destroyed our homes. We have no other land”

These chilling words were captured by Basel Adra while witnessing the destruction of the homes of civilians in Masafer Yatta, a region in the southern part of the West Bank and one of the many locations where Israeli military forces set out to destroy for their own purposes. These words, spoken by an unnamed elderly woman who fights back the fears and fury at having just seen everything she owned be annihilated in one fell swoop were powerful enough to serve as the title for Adra’s documentary No Other Land, which he co-directed with fellow activists Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor, all of whom having spent years fighting for the freedom of the Palestinian people in some form or another. This documentary is ultimately their most significant act of resistance, as they come together as a group consisting of both Palestinian and Israeli journalists, to craft a film that aims the cruel and harrowing reality faced by innocent people across the West Bank from the first encounters with the Israeli forces decades ago, until the present moment, where it has reached the point where it simply cannot be viewed as anything other than an issue facing the entire global community. In this documentary, which was made prior to the October 7 attacks that took place in late 2023, the directors set out to explore the conditions surrounding the forced eviction from this particular part of Palestine, all seen through the eyes of a man witnessing his homeland slowly being levelled, and the people with whom he grew up slowly becoming more scarce. The final product is a harrowing, harsh examination of a country being destroyed and a people being displaced, and while it is not particularly easy to watch, it’s essential in terms of everything that we see being said throughout this incredibly complex, deeply moving examination of the current state of the world and the people fighting for change.

No Other Land is a very difficult film to talk about, since not only is it a story that revolves around events that are still ongoing (making it less of a historical document and more a glimpse into the very recent past, to which we were all witnesses, albeit from quite a distance), but it was made by those who were present for the events depicted. There’s a tendency for films about major historical events and conflicts to be made by those who come from elsewhere, descending into a war-torn region in the hopes of capturing footage for posterity. That isn’t the case here – Adra was from Masafer Yatta, and this was not his effort to solely capture the destruction, but to work through his own emotions at seeing his home become increasingly less recognisable, which is an experience I don’t think many of us could ever fathom, let alone find the strength and resolve to capture on camera. Yet, Adra knew the importance of what he was witnessing, which prompted him to take the necessary steps to film this footage. The horrors that Adra, and countless Palestinians, witnessed over time cannot be put into words – and this film doesn’t attempt to explain or justify these emotions. The images speak for themselves, every piece of footage adding to the experience of seeing these events in vivid detail. Our instinct is to turn away – the majority of us do not want to see people in peril, but Adra and his cohorts understand that this is not a case of making the audience feel comfort, and should we make the choice to venture into this film, we are going to be confronted with a dose of harsh reality, witnessing a series of curated moments into the lives of civilians who are finding themselves at the receiving end of a constant barrage of attacks in which their lives are openly cited as being expendable. It’s not an assuring, comforting film, but rather one that is exceptionally challenging and unquestionably essential.

One of the aspects of No Other Land that has been quite distinct is how it was made in collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli activists, who come together to tell this story. At a cursory glance, it is easy to mistake this film for some milquetoast attempt to present both sides of the conflict, since the concept of Palestinians and Israelis being anything other than sworn enemies is far too widespread and steeped heavily in the idea that one cannot look beyond their own demographic and origins when it comes to witnessing crimes against humanity. It is made very clear from the start that this is not some story about two people from different cultures finding common ground and showing that it is possible to get along despite the conflict between their countries. In fact, its more of the inverse – these are two people who are extremely aware that they come from places where they are bound to be viewed in opposition to one another, but rather than defending their homeland, they instead choose to pursue something in favour of a more common humanity, which requires the Israeli activists to set aside whatever unconscious biases they have, and allow Adra and his people to take the spotlight, which is the very core of this film and the fundamental reason it is so powerful. Abraham, as the second most prominent player in the film, is starkly aware that this is not his story, but rather that his presence is vital in drawing attention to the film. His staunch support for the Palestinian people is made very clear, and he is someone whose position is based on his observations of immense injustices, placing humanity above whatever arbitrary patriotism that people like him are expected to follow based on their birth, rather than what they grow to develop. No Other Land is not a film based around friendship, but it is one that does show how a friendship can play a part in bringing people together in unexpected ways.

It does feel somewhat inappropriate to talk about a film like No Other Land in terms of its form, since this is a perfect example of a work in which the content supersedes absolutely everything else, to the point where even the most poorly-made, inefficient techniques would have made very little difference considering the scope of the narrative. Yet, the fact that Adra and his co-directors still found a way to craft the film to be a riveting, engaging work that isn’t simply an endless cavalcade of horrifying footage, but rather a well-constructed documentary about the current state of the world, makes a profound difference in our understanding of these ideas and everything that ultimately informs them. There is something so extraordinary about the commitment of the directors to telling this story in a way that conveys its ideas with some degree of nuance, considering the scope of horror that we are witnessing in the process. The film handles its emotions with a lot of attention to detail – they are aware that the people most likely to watch this film are those with a genuine interest in learning about the conflict and seeing a perspective that is more pure, rather than the overwhelming amount of information we receive from the news and other sources. The focus here is to provide something of an education to the audience, without making the entire film a series of lectures on the plight of the Palestinians. Adra does not speak for all Palestinians, and his perspective is his own, as are his actions – and yet, there is still something so profoundly moving about his efforts to tell this story, which proves to be a harrowing but meaningful series of observations that are placed together to create something of a storyline, tracing a few months in the lives of his people as they watch their home slowly disappear, leaving them utterly displaced and with a future that is beyond uncertain.

No Other Land is not an easy film to watch, and while it is a staggering achievement, I have a feel that contemporary audiences are not the ones that are going to benefit the most from this film, but rather those that come in future decades, where this film will rise from merely a socially-conscious documentary and instead come to be seen as a vital historical text, a vivid portrait of Palestine in the days leading to what many are considering to be one of the most consequential moments in the history of the liberation movement. At the present moment, we do not know what the future holds, and whether tensions will flare up again or slowly begin to simmer down as we move towards a brighter future for the people who have managed to survive over a year of brutality. However, no one involved in the creation of this film was particularly interested in prognostication in any way – their focus was not to predict the future, but rather to represent the present and how it exists in dialogue with the past. It’s a fascinating account of the present moment, and its almost too enormous for us to digest, since we live in such proximity to these events – but the power of this film, and how it will likely come to be seen as one of the defining texts to cover the displacement of Palestinians is evident from its first haunting moments, all of which exist to show the power and impact of this story and everything that it ultimately represents, in the hopes of making viewers aware of a reality that we may not entirely understand, but at the very least can witness it through the eyes of a group of directors committed to change in some form or another, tis film being one of many steps taken to acknowledge this pivotal moment in history.