A scene from No Other Land. Courtesy of New York Film Festival

By Olivia Haynie March 3, 2025

At last night’s Oscars ceremony, the Israeli-Palestinian documentary No Other Land won best documentary feature film, making it the first Palestinian feature to win an Academy Award. Highly acclaimed since its initial release, the film has found distribution in more than 20 countries — but the U.S. is not among them.

The film, which also won the prize for best documentary at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival, documents the destruction of a village in the West Bank. At the Oscars, the filmmakers used their acceptance speech to decry Israel’s war in Gaza as well as advocate for a return of the hostages. “Can’t you see that we are intertwined?” Abraham asked the audience. “That my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly safe, and free?”

According to a New York Times article, challenges to find distribution have plagued many politically charged documentaries in recent years.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

No Other Land co-director Yuval Abraham told the Times that distributors’ resistance to the film “could perhaps be explained by the thought that this topic is sensitive, and, ‘Why touch it? Why take the risk?’”

On Feb. 2, the filmmakers announced on X that they would be self-distributing the film in the U.S. A spokesperson for No Other Land, told me that, with the help of independent booker mTuckman Media, they have shown the film in several indie movie theaters across the United States.

For those without access to a participating theater, it’s virtually impossible to watch No Other Land (at least legally). No streaming services are showing the film in the United States.

Speaking with Variety in January, Abraham argued that in America “there is much less space for this kind of criticism [of Israel], even when it comes in the form of a film.” The Academy’s decision to give No Other Land the highest documentary honor could signal that the conversation in the U.S. will open up — but that remains to be seen. As of now, even after its big win, there is no indication that mainstream American distributors are changing their minds about the film.

To see theaters showing No Other Land, visit its website.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount