No Other Land

Young Palestinian activist Basel Adra lives in Masafer Yatta, a centuries-old network of Bedouin villages in the West Bank. His community is the target of an aggressive Israeli eviction campaign, allegedly to make way for a military base. By day, bulldozers flatten villages; by night, desperate residents rebuild their homes.Together with Jewish-Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and two co-directors, Adra is starting a film collective.

Starting in the summer of 2019, they will turn their cameras on the soldiers. The often jerky images make it bluntly clear how precarious the situation is. Everyday scenes show how a friendship blossoms between the two activists. Through old home videos and a voice-over, Adra explains that oppression has plagued his community for much longer.Although the documentary was already finished in October 2023, the directors end with disconcerting images of Masafer Yatta in wartime.

It makes this urgent film - awarded the prize for best documentary at the Berlinale and winner of many audience awards - both a history lesson and a tragic prologue.