“No Other Land” - Film Review
This site recently covered Sugarcane, a documentary about Canadian residential schools that existed to bury the culture and language of those indigenous to the land. The documentary spoke to the importance and power of bearing witness to what can only be described as genocide. With the widespread availability of cameras, more stories of injustice are finding their way to the big screen. There is power in documentation, in capturing and showing the daily reality that one endures. No Other Land opens with Basel, a Palestinian activist, stating, “I started filming when we started to end.” What follows are four years’ worth of Basel’s efforts to exist in his homeland and the unlikely friendship he forms with Yuval, an Israeli journalist dead set on writing what he witnesses with Basel.
Few documentaries feel as urgent and timely as No Other Land. Some may think the filming began after Israel’s attacks on Gaza increased due to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. In fact, No Other Land was fully wrapped and in the post-production phase when the attack occurred. To those who don’t live in Gaza, it’s easy for the news to come and go. That’s the nature of the 24/7 news cycle. It thrives on the newest, most terrible events. When it becomes clear that there is no natural ending to a conflict, many media members just move to the next one. There’s never a shortage. The real people who are affected are left in the lurch, abandoned. Their stories are merely used for clicks and views.
It’s only through sustained awareness that we can bring about change, a sentiment that Basel is familiar with. As he and Yuval get to know each other, Yuval expresses frustration that his articles aren’t reaching many people. Basel tells him that change doesn’t happen overnight. One article that reveals the abuse the Palestinian people experience on a daily basis is not going to get people to change their minds. It’s the exhausting reality of continued documentation that pushes public opinion. Basel’s father, an ex-activist-turned-gas-station-owner, tells his son, “Film, Basel, they’re still here.” It’s a command from a man who knows the power that exists in the lens of a camera and understands the courage required of the person holding it.
courtesy of Antipode Films & Yabayay
Basel’s first memory is of Israeli troops raiding his home. No Other Land shows that this is a common experience, and it continues even now, when Basel is an adult. The documentary lives in Basel’s memories and his home. There are no talking-head interviews in the film. It’s merely Basel and Yuval working to capture life as they know it. That’s why No Other Land feels as urgent as it does. It provides a firsthand look at a conflict that’s immensely divisive. No Other Land doesn’t seek to be a history lesson because it doesn’t need to be. Its purpose is to show what life is like in Palestine, despite the near-daily pain of enduring violence. Love and hope persevere.
“They made us strangers in our own land.” While No Other Land doesn’t explicitly state it, the documentary has found an answer to the animosity between Palestine and Israel. That is to meet people who are unlike you. To question what you’ve been taught your whole life and discover whether those teachings are grounded in the hatred of another person. At first, Basel and Yuval are merely coworkers, two journalists unwilling to let these horrors go undocumented. By the end of their time together, they’re more like friends born on opposite sides of a conflict that has existed since long before they were born. Hopefully they will have a part in ending it.
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