The journey to the Oscar statuette has been successfully completed in an impressive achievement for the creators of the film "No Other Land," the Israeli-Palestinian collaboration that won the Oscar for Best Documentary Film on Sunday night in Los Angeles. According to reports, the statuette was supposed to be presented by Israeli actress Gal Gadot, who attended the ceremony but ultimately did not present it, and instead was presented by Samuel L. Jackson and Selena Gomez.
During the ceremony held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, in the presence of many dignitaries from the international American film industry and in front of the eyes of the entire world who watched the live broadcast of the event - the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the documentary project, which caused a stir in Israel, was the winner.
Acceptance speech by the creators of "No Other Country" at the 2025 Oscars
(Video: courtesy A.M.P.A.S.© 2025, yes ו- +STING)
The collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers follows activist Basel Adra as he risks arrest to document the destruction of his hometown at the southern edge of the West Bank, which Israeli soldiers are tearing down to use as a military training zone. Adra's pleas fall on deaf ears until he befriends a Jewish Israeli journalist who helps him amplify his story.
"No Other Land" came into the night a top contender after a successful run on the film festival circuit. It did not, however, find a U.S. distributor after being picked up for distribution in 24 countries.
This is an impressive achievement by the collective of Palestinian journalists Basel Adra and Hamdan Bilal and Israelis Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, who, with the support of a Norwegian production company, brought to the screen a bleak and gloomy picture of what is happening in the Masafar Yatta community in the southern Hebron Hills under Israeli control. The golden statuette closes a circle that began at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2024, where the filmmakers won the award for best documentary film, and from the stage they came out against the Netanyahu government and its policies, as well as against the Trump administration, and called on the world to intervene to end the war in Gaza.
"About two months ago, I became a father," Adra said Sunday."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. We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice."
"'No Other Land' reflects the harsh reality that we have been dealing with for decades, a reality that continues even now, and we call on the entire world to take serious action to put an end to this injustice, this ethnic cleansing," he also said.
"We made this film as Palestinians and Israelis because, together, our voices are stronger," said Israeli journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham. "We see each other, the terrible destruction of Gaza must end, the Israeli hostages who were taken in the crimes of October 7th must be released."
"When I look at Basel, I see my brother, but we are unequal," Abraham said on stage. "We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life. There is a different path, a political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people."
"And I have to say, while I'm here, that the foreign policy of this country is helping to block this path. Why? Don't you see that we are bound together? That my people can only be truly safe when Basel's people are truly free and safe? There is another way. It's not too late. To give life to life. There is no other way. Thank you."
Abraham received harsh criticism in Israel after speaking about the destruction caused by the war in Gaza in previous acceptance speeches where he also did not mention the Israeli hostages at the hands of Hamas.
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The choice of members of the American Film Academy is an expression of support for the messages of the filmmakers, who documented for years the struggle of the residents of Palestinian villages against systematic abuse of the IDF and the Civil Administration as an implementation of government orders backed by the court, alongside violent raids by settlers.
Following the High Court of Justice ruling from 2022, Israel is working to evacuate Palestinian residents, demolish homes, and block traffic routes, but international pressure is preventing the move from being implemented.
Trailer 'No Other Land'
Alongside the bitter reality of the residents as depicted through the lens, the filmmakers combined an intimate look at the courageous friendship that has developed over the years between Adra and Abraham, a journalist, who visits the area repeatedly to report on what is happening on the ground. The difficult-to-watch footage filmed as part of the collaboration between the two, as well as the collaboration itself, are the foundation of "No Other Land," which has been received with great sympathy all over the world since Berlin and to the Oscar ceremony itself.
"No Other Land" is officially labeled as a co-production between Norway and Palestine, making it the first Oscar ever awarded to a Palestinian film. Abraham and Rachel Szor join Moshe Mizrahi and Guy Nativ as the only Israeli filmmakers to win an Oscar for their films, despite being made as a foreign production; Mizrahi won the Foreign Language Oscar in 1977 for the French drama "Madame Rosa," and Nativ won the Short Film Oscar in 2021 for his American film "Skin."
The film 'Anora,' directed and produced by Sean Baker, won the Best Picture award at the 2025 Academy Awards. The film won in a total of five categories, three of which were personally awarded to director, editor and screenwriter Baker - who won four statuettes Sunday night in Los Angeles. Actress Mikey Madison won Best Actress for her role in the film.