“No Other Land”: The Collective Behind the Oscar-Nominated Documentary

Summary

The New Yorker Radio Hour: “No Other Land” – A Deep Dive into the Oscar-Nominated Documentary

Hosted by David Remnick, this episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour explores the collaborative efforts behind the Academy Award-nominated documentary "No Other Land." Through insightful interviews with filmmakers Basil Adra and Yuval Abraham, the episode delves into the challenges, motivations, and profound impact of documenting life in the West Bank.

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Introduction: The Stark Reality Behind the Documentary

Timestamp: [00:39]

David Remnick sets the stage by addressing recent alarming headlines, notably Donald Trump's controversial proposal regarding Gaza. He underscores the gravity of the situation by highlighting Netanyahu's reaction and the broader implications for the region. Remnick introduces the documentary "No Other Land" as a poignant exploration of life in the West Bank amidst political turmoil.

Quote:

"No Other Land is opening in just a handful of theaters around the country. This week, it's been nominated as best documentary at the Academy Awards."
— David Remnick [00:39]

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Meet the Filmmakers: Basil Adra and Yuval Abraham

Timestamp: [02:52] - [08:55]

Basil Adra's Story Basil Adra, a native of Masafiryata in the southern West Bank, shares his upbringing in a farming community disrupted by Israeli settlements and military base constructions. His parents' activism inspired him to document the struggles of his community from a young age.

Quote:

"I want the world to know that we face. That's what we face. And we're living in these conditions and people should care about what's happening to us and it should not continue."
— Basil Adra [04:35]

Yuval Abraham's Journey Yuval Abraham, originally from Jerusalem, transitioned from journalism to filmmaking. His proficiency in Arabic and his personal connections to Palestinian communities deepened his understanding and commitment to portraying their stories authentically.

Quote:

"My grandfather, who is a Jewish person born in Jerusalem and his family is originally from Yemen, he spoke fluent Palestinian Arabic. But then, you know, after this family connection, I began also meeting Palestinians first, Palestinians who are citizens of Israel."
— Yuval Abraham [08:00]

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The Making of "No Other Land"

Timestamp: [05:22] - [19:26]

Collaboration and Vision Basil and Yuval recount the genesis of their collaboration, emphasizing the union of Palestinian and Israeli perspectives to create a balanced narrative. The documentary aggregates five years of footage, capturing everyday life, protests, and the pervasive military presence.

Quote:

"We want these people to understand and to inspire them and to encourage them that they should take part in this in any kind of action."
— Basil Adra [23:20]

Challenges Faced The filmmakers discuss the inherent dangers of documenting protests and daily life in the West Bank. Basil shares harrowing experiences of escaping settler violence, highlighting the personal risks involved in their activism.

Quote:

"I was faster and I made it and I escaped from them."
— Basil Adra [06:26]

Political Context Yuval delves into the systemic issues surrounding home demolitions and the denial of building permits to Palestinians. He emphasizes the political motivations behind these actions, countering the narrative that labels such constructions as "illegal."

Quote:

"It's a political issue, that there is a systematic effort to prevent this acquisition of building permits."
— Yuval Abraham [09:06]

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Impact and Reception

Timestamp: [18:32] - [21:11]

Global Response The documentary has resonated worldwide, eliciting strong emotional reactions and garnering numerous awards. However, the filmmakers express concern over the escalating difficulties faced by Palestinian communities, despite the film’s success.

Quote:

"It's sad because we made this movie from a perspective of activism to try to save the community, to try to have political pressure and impact for the community itself."
— Basil Adra [18:41]

Changing Perceptions Yuval reflects on the film’s role in challenging entrenched narratives within Israeli society. He acknowledges the limited discourse on potential political solutions and the urgent need for broader societal engagement.

Quote:

"I see this now in Israeli society, we released the film now online in Israel and Palestine... I'm beginning to read comments from Israelis who are not necessarily like me."
— Yuval Abraham [19:59]

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Hope for the Future: A Call to Action

Timestamp: [23:00] - [25:04]

Inspiring Change Both filmmakers express a fervent desire to inspire activism and political engagement. They hope "No Other Land" serves as a catalyst for viewers to advocate for justice and support efforts toward a peaceful resolution.

Quote:

"We need this like water, really. There will be no other way forward if there is no political horizon."
— Stephen Colbert [22:59]

Final Messages In a hypothetical Academy Awards moment, the filmmakers emphasize the urgent need for ceasefire implementation and the pursuit of a political solution to end the ongoing bloodshed.

Quote:

"What is the most urgent thing is that all stages of the ceasefire will be implemented and there's a very high risk."
— Stephen Colbert [24:14]

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Conclusion: The Power of Storytelling

Timestamp: [25:34]

David Remnick wraps up the episode, reiterating the significance of "No Other Land" and its timely message. He acknowledges the collaborative efforts of the filmmaking team and underscores the documentary’s potential to foster understanding and drive change.

Quote:

"The film has been nominated for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards, which are next month."
— David Remnick [25:04]

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Final Thoughts

This episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour offers a compelling exploration of "No Other Land," shedding light on the intertwined lives of Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank. Through personal narratives and in-depth discussions, Remnick and the filmmakers highlight the enduring struggle for justice, the power of documentary filmmaking, and the imperative for global awareness and action.

Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

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[WNYC Studios]

Listener Supported WNYC Studios.

[The New Yorker]

This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co production of WNYC Studios and the New Yorker.

[David Remnick]

This is the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. In a week of astonishing headlines, maybe nothing was more astonishing than Donald Trump's proposal that the United States take over Gaza, ethnically cleanse the region of Palestinians, permanently exiling a population already traumatized by war, and then turn the whole thing into what Trump calls the Riviera of the Middle East. Was this a serious proposal? It certainly put a smile on the face of Benjamin Netanyahu, who's not only intent on obliterating Hamas in Gaza, but at the same time making Israel's control of the west bank irreversible. Even if Trump's proposal was merely part of his strategy of flooding the zone, the reality is no less troubling. And to understand what that reality is, particularly in the west bank, there's a new documentary film that you should see called no Other Land. In one scene, Palestinians are protesting the demolition of their homes. They're walking down the road carrying balloons and banners, but the protest is banned under Israeli law and the army is at the ready alongside them with combat gear, rifles and stun grenades. No Other Land is opening in just a handful of theaters around the country. This week, it's been nominated as best documentary at the Academy Awards. Two Palestinian and two Israeli filmmakers collaborated to make no Other Land. And I spoke over zoom with two of Basil Adra, who lives in the west bank, and Yuval Abraham, who lives in Jerusalem. Because so few people have seen this film, I'd like to begin. First of all, this is first and foremost begins with Basil's life. Tell me where you were born and what was the impulse to make a film about your life and the circumstances of the people all around you.

[Basil Adra]

So I was born in a small community in the southern occupied the West Bank, Masafiryata, and my little small village called Altwani. I was born and raised there. My parents are like the other families in Masafiryata are farmers, like keep sheep and cultivate the land. And this is how the people lives in our area. But today it's different for sure because we don't have access to majority of the land due to the settlements and military bases are built on our land for this past decade. So my parents all the time were like activists and were trying to change the reality that we are living in. As you saw a little bit of the stories in the no Other Land documentary.

[David Remnick]

And you wanted to make a film about your community, about the west bank for a long time.

[Basil Adra]

So for me, it wasn't the idea from the beginning. I started like when I was teenager to take a camera and document what's going on around me and to me, to my family, to the community that I live in order to have the evidence. And as well I was like a bit kind of angry and want the world to know that we face. That's what we face. And we're living in these conditions and people should care about what's happening to us and it should not continue. This is what's happening in my village now.

[David Remnick]

Soldiers are everywhere and where were you sending this evidence?

[Basil Adra]

So some of them we used for social media. All of them are in archive on our hand. Some of the footage that we got helped different people in court cases as evidence and as a proof against the claims of the settler soldiers when they try to lie about certain incidents. So we would have evidence that we filmed that incident to show to the judge or to the court. This is what we do mainly to film of what's going on and to move in the field with families, with the school students during demolitions. And then Yuval and Rachel came to Masafiryat five years ago.

[David Remnick]

This is Yuval Abraham and Rachel Zor, who were Israeli and started coming to the West Bank.

[Basil Adra]

And then Yuval and Rachel kept coming to Mustafir Yatta almost weekly. And the relationship became like stronger because we spend more time together and in the field, in the house. And then from then actually had idea and said when we were like sitting together like guys, let's make a movie documentary about all the footage that we have. We didn't have the experience in doing so, all of us, but we all agreed in the idea and we started this project like five years ago together and we released the movie February 2024. Yeah.

[David Remnick]

It seems that as filmmakers Basel, one of the great assets advantages that you had, and I don't say this as a joke, is your ability to run really fast with a camera away from dangerous situations. Can you talk about that a little bit?

[Basil Adra]

Yeah, actually you're right. Like, and I remember like now in 2021 is was like to be honest, maybe the. The biggest like settler physical attack against the community that ever I filmed in my life. I got like a phone call and there was like almost 60 to 80 masked settlers with guns. They were like smashing windows and throwing rocks inside the houses, at the people, at cars. And people were like literally fleeing from their homes to the valleys and to the fields and trying to run away from the settlers. I stood kind of less than 50 meters in front of about like 15 to 20 mosque settlers. They were like smashing a home and two cars near it. One of the settlers saw that I'm filming and he called others and they start to run after me. I was in flip flop even, not in a. Not in a good shoes to run. And for real, it was so scary. But I was faster and I made it and I escaped from them.

[Stephen Colbert]

I hate being with Basil on the field because I'm much slower than him. So he always runs, I'm behind him. I also, I smoke more, so I'm less in shape.

[David Remnick]

And Yuval, when you started working on this film alongside Basel and the others, you came to this from what background? You're an Israeli citizen, am I correct? Jewish.

[Stephen Colbert]

I actually came to this through journalism, or to be. To even go even a step backwards in a way. I came to this through the Arabic language, I think, because when I was younger I studied Arabic. I grew up, you know, in quite a mainstream Israeli town, not meeting Palestinians, not knowing a lot about what is happening in the West Bank. And after I began studying Arabic, it really changed my life. It changed me politically, but I think also emotionally. My grandfather, who is a Jewish person born in Jerusalem and his family is originally from Yemen, he spoke fluent Palestinian Arabic. But then, you know, after this family connection, I began also meeting Palestinians first, Palestinians who are citizens of Israel. And gradually I began going more and more into the West Bank. And I think the knowledge of Arabic and Hebrew is sort of what's made me a journalist.

[David Remnick]

A lot of the footage that you gathered with your colleagues and a major focus of the film is on home demolitions conducted by Israeli military or Israeli crews. Could you explain what that's about, Yuval?

[Stephen Colbert]

Wherever you look in the west bank and also inside Israel, for example, in the Negev, you see Palestinian houses being bulldozed. You see Palestinian villages where they have no connection to water or electricity and they are unable to obtain a permit. The Israeli military declines. It's almost 99% of Palestinian requests for building permits, according to data that the military has supplied to organizations like BIMCOM and others. Israeli human rights organizations that are researching this issue. And when I looked in the Israeli media or I began talking to, you know, to Israeli friends from where I grew up or my family, the response I always got was, well, they're building illegally. This is a legal issue. They did not obtain a permit and it's illegal. But when I began researching and looking at documents and looking at statistics, you very quickly realized that it's a political issue, that there is a systematic effort to prevent this acquisition of building permits. I think for me what was most important and shocking when I first met Basel, this is like the first day that we met. I remember there was a house demolition happening in Basel's village and we ran to it. I remember like the soldiers threw stun grenades and they kicked this person out of his house and destroys the house. And there was so much violence there at that moment. I remember like the children looking at it and the family then not sure what to do and where will they go and where will they sleep? And I felt it's very wrong, you know, that this is happening. And I felt a certain responsibility, I guess, to communicate that first and first most to Israelis. So I began writing mainly in Hebrew and something about that experience really drew me back to come back to Masafiryata and to basically witness this happening over and over again. Two in the morning you're doing operation in our household.

[Basil Adra]

They are refusing to give us permissions or master plans for our village or they come and demolish our homes and keep saying to the media that we are building illegally.

[David Remnick]

This is the New Yorker Radio Hour. More to come.

[Yuval Abraham]

The New Yorker Radio Hour is supported by Dell.

[WNYC Studios]

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[The New Yorker]

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[Yuval Abraham]

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[WNYC Studios]

You about the Late Show Pod show, which is the podcast of the Late show with my producer Becca. Becca, what's up?

[Basil Adra]

So the Late Show Pod show is everything you love about the Late show on a podcast.

[David Remnick]

I want to know about you.

[WNYC Studios]

Enough people see everybody in an ad talks about the thing they're trying to sell.

[David Remnick]

I'd like to know about you, the.

[WNYC Studios]

Person behind creating the podcast.

[Basil Adra]

I'm having a really good day.

[David Remnick]

Barry baked some bread and my friend.

[Basil Adra]

Kara got me some chicken salad. It's a really nice day in the office today.

[WNYC Studios]

Listen to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert wherever you get your podcasts.

[David Remnick]

Yuval what can a independent film like yours do? What kind of effect can it have?

[Stephen Colbert]

I can tell you what I know for sure that films have effects on individuals and they change the hearts of individuals. And the only reason why I know this for a fact is because it happens to me. Like when I was younger, I I remember I watched a documentary called Five Broken Cameras, which was also nominated for an Oscar and was created by an Israeli Palestinian team. And it really, really touched me and it really made me question some of the beliefs I grew up with.

[David Remnick]

Because what kind of narratives were you raised on about Palestine and Palestinians as you were growing up?

[Stephen Colbert]

I grew up 25 minutes away from Basil's village, near the Beersheba area, which is in the south of Israel. And I mean, I lived my life. And you don't know or you don't see or maybe you see, but you kind of tune out of the realities happening in the west bank and what Basil's community has been going through. I would always hear about Palestinian teenagers in the west bank throwing stones at Israeli soldiers or at Israeli settlers. And when you don't know anything about the context, when you imagine that they're just living normal lives like your lives. The explanation that you put on these acts of violence is always going to be they're doing that because they hate us, because they are evil.

[David Remnick]

But do you extend that understanding to something like October 7th?

[Stephen Colbert]

No. Look, I do believe that, and this is. I'm not the only Israeli Israelis talk about this all the time. That part of the conditions which allowed for October 7th was an Israeli right wing policy for decades that set to empower Hamas in Gaza. We can more moderate Palestinians keep a separation between the Gaza Strip and the west bank to prevent a Palestinian state. I do believe that people retain moral agency. So I think horrible war crimes were committed on October 7th. Three people that I knew were killed on October 7th. Even people who are oppressed still have moral agency. And kidnapping children or massacring civilians is wrong. And the people who are committing that have a moral responsibility. And I see this tendency both in the Palestinian side and also in the Israeli side to not assume responsibility for crimes or actions because the other side has committed the crimes. And looking at October 7th, it's almost a year and a half since where if 38 Israeli children were killed on October 7th, each one of their deaths is a crime. We have now in Gaza 17,000 children, 10,000 children who are missing. And when you talk with Israelis about this, they have this mirror image of justification where they point to the crime of October 7th and say, well, this justifies everything that we have done since Yuval.

[David Remnick]

Do you feel like a stranger in your own land politically? Because the polls would suggest. My interviews would suggest, the Israeli press would suggest that the way you look at the situation now is utterly alien to Israeli society.

[Stephen Colbert]

My views are a minority view in Israel.

[David Remnick]

I don't mean a minority. I mean a vanishingly small minority.

[Stephen Colbert]

No, you're right. Recently there was a vote in the Knesset about a statement where the Israeli Knesset said there will never be a Palestinian state. And there are 120 Knesset members, parliament members. The statement passed and only eight parliament's members. I think that was the number eight, or maybe it was nine opposed out of 120. Most of the eight were Palestinian Israelis. There was only one Jewish Israeli parliament member who opposed that. So this is a pressing issue and it's very terrifying for me because I think that you are right. I mean, there is no discourse here locally that could lead to a political solution and we are hungry for hope.

[David Remnick]

Basil, there's a very powerful scene in the film that shows a peaceful protest against the destruction of your village and other villages. Can you describe how dangerous peaceful protests can be in the West Bank? It's not really legal to protest, is that right?

[Basil Adra]

No. Under the military law, it's illegal. We can't have any protest against the occupation. It's very, very dangerous sometimes can be not just a Mustafir Yatta. And all over the years, like many Palestinians lost their life protesting against the occupation on those kind of protests. In our documentary, you can see the story of Harun Abaram, a guy like our age who was shot in his neck by Israeli soldiers just because he tried to protest. The soldiers taking the generator that his family used for electricity. And he was paralyzed for two years and then passed away due to his injury.

[David Remnick]

Basil, you have been showing this film all around the world. What has been the result of your touring this film?

[Basil Adra]

Yeah, around the world were like, very emotional and a lot of time would cry and also stand up and greets us and it's like, amazing. I think we didn't thought, to be honest, when we were working in this movie that we will get this amount of awards and be nominated for the Oscar, which is all important for the movie and the story itself. But on the other side, it's sad because we made this movie from a perspective of activism to try to save the community, to try to have political pressure and impact for the community itself. But unfortunately, all the reality today is changing the opposite side, which is to be more miserable and bad.

[David Remnick]

The reality on the ground, yes, is one of the difficult things for a film like this, and look, I feel it sometimes, too, is that you're sometimes preaching to the converted. Yuval, you're showing your film to people who already are inclined to agree with you or in your political camp, and that to reach people whose mind you want to change most profoundly. They're not turning it on. They're not entering the theater. They're not clicking on your film. They're watching something else.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, well, I think this is why the Oscars help, because when a film is nominated, then suddenly. And I see this now in Israeli society, we released the film now online in Israel and Palestine. And of course it's challenging, but, you know, I'm beginning to read comments from Israelis who are not necessarily like me, as you said, they're not part of the. Did you call it a dying minority or like, sorry, a small minority, which. Which I hope changes, you know, because for me, I feel this is my main responsibility as an Israeli is. Is to work with the Israeli society and to try to. I'm going to have a bunch of interviews on mainstream Israeli media and to try to show people, you know, the way in which I see the world and to try to convince them to come, to come closer.

[David Remnick]

I sometimes think that Israeli contact with the west bank, much less Gaza, is almost solely through the military. I was once writing a piece about Haaretz and I was talking with the owner of Haaretz, Amoshaken, and I asked him about what his experience of the west bank had been. He said, I've never been there. I read about it in Haaretz.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[David Remnick]

And that is the owner of the most left wing paper in Israel.

[Stephen Colbert]

This is a key issue, David. If I look at, you know, the few years that we had leading to October 7, that had the protests against the judicial overhaul, against the weakening of the Israeli judicial system and the Supreme Court, which were policies that Netanyahu had tried to promote. You know, this was something that was led by, let's say, the Israeli center left, the liberal community in Israel, many of them live in Tel Aviv. And I would attend those protests because I thought they were important. But one word that was missing there because people were chanting democracy, and democracy that was missing from the mainstream side of this protest was occupation, was Palestinians, was a political solution. And I think that for far too long, the Israeli liberal side has sort of allowed, not only allowed, but had contributed for things that were happening in the occupied west bank and in Gaza. And there's a contradiction here that we are seeing today. I mean, things are related. Many people on the left have warned for many, many years that, you know, what is happening to the Palestinians will eventually seep through into the Israeli society. And of course, like the Israeli right is getting stronger, and then the oppression of Palestinians is getting bigger, and then Hamas is getting stronger, and then by attacking Israeli civilians, the Israeli right is getting. But there is this loop that we are seeing where it's like a win win for those who do not want a political solution. And I think it's really important to understand it's not some binary thing. It's not like either the Palestinians win or the Israelis win. In a sense, it's either we all win or we all lose. And I hope that the Israeli liberals, to get back to my previous point, will not continue to protect the occupation or apartheid. And we will try to work to have an alternative because we really need this. We need this like water, really. There will be no other way forward if there is no political horizon.

[David Remnick]

Basil for many, it's very hard to imagine how things can get any worse in Palestine, in Gaza, and west bank and in the political atmosphere of Israel as well. What do you hope that this film inspires in the people to take the time to see it?

[Basil Adra]

Well, we did this movie again from perspective of activism and for real, like we want to change people's minds because many of the people that are going to watch this are in somehow responsible because this is their money, this is their government, this is their countries that's supporting this reality and supporting the ongoing occupation, even if in their words will not say it, but in their actions, this is what they do. And so we want these people to understand and to inspire them and to encourage them that they should take part in this in any kind of action. Small, big protest pressure.

[David Remnick]

How do you imagine the Academy Awards ceremony if you had that opportunity, very short opportunity, before the music starts and they chase you off the stage, what would you like to say to the world in that brief time?

[Stephen Colbert]

We have 45 seconds and Basel needs to speak first, I think. But I think for me, if I will say something concrete about the current moment, I think for me, what is the most urgent thing is that all stages of the ceasefire will be implemented and there's a very high risk. I think in the short term, the pressure should really be on, on moving and doing all the stages of the ceasefire agreement so we can get out of this current, you know, bloodbath that we are in and begin hopefully working for a political solution.

[David Remnick]

Basil Adra, Yuval Ibrahim, thank you so much.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you very much.

[Basil Adra]

Thank you.

[David Remnick]

No Other Land opened in New York and it's coming to a few major cities this weekend. Also on the filmmaking team for no Other Land are Hamdan Balal and Rachel Zor. The film has been nominated for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards, which are next month. I'm David Remnick. That's our show for today. Thanks for joining us. See you next time.

[The New Yorker]

The New Yorker Radio Hour is a co production of WNYC Studios and the New Yorker. Our theme music was composed and performed by Meryl Garbus of Tune Yards, with additional music by Louis Mitchell. This episode was produced by Max Balton, Adam Howard, David Krasnow, Jeffrey Masters, Louis Mitchell, Jared Paul and Ursula Sommer, with guidance from Emily Bottin and assistance from Michael May, David Gable, Alex Barish, Victor Guan and Alejandra Deckett. The New Yorker Radio Hour is supported in part by the Cherina Endowment.

[WNYC Studios]

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