In the fall of last year, I had the privilege of interviewing two of the four directors, Palestinian Basel Adra and Israeli Yuval Abraham, who collaborated on No Other Land, a documentary about Masafer Yatta, a cluster of 20 small villages in the occupied West Bank. (My interview was published in Cineaste magazine's last issue.) It was a debut documentary for all of the directors, including Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor, who skillfully portrayed the attacks by the Israeli army and Jewish citizens living in illegal settlements; both destroyed homes, schools and in some cases the fields and animals that the villagers' relied on for food and water.
In the course of the interview both filmmakers expressed the hope that their film, well-received at the New York Film Festival by the majority of critics, would get a New York opening. I felt compelled to explain that it would not happen soon because it was election season. Privately, I was heartbroken at their optimism; I knew there was no hope of a theatrical release here. At least a dozen people had walked out of the festival screening, apparently offended by the documentary. When the screening ended, critics feared speaking to each other. Twenty years ago when controversial films, even ones about Israel, screened at NYFF it inspired thoughtful, respectful discussion.
Wanting to hold out hope, I told Basel and Yuval that a theater would most likely give them the qualifying run they needed for the Oscars. One New York theater and another in Santa Monica booked the film, but No Other Land still lacks wide distribution. I am saddened by this and ashamed for my country that professes to uphold freedom of speech. More than that, I mourn the plight of Palestine.
A DVD of No Other Land could be had on Amazon for several weeks but is now listed as "not available."
Speaking of free speech and tyranny, Google is preventing me from accessing my photos for this post because it wants me to accept cookies.
