Why Israel is 'doubly hurt' by the Oscar win for documentary 'No Other Land'

Israel has expressed disappointment that 'No Other Land', a documentary that focuses on the forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes in Masafer Yatta, won the Oscar for best documentary feature on Sunday. The documentary, made between 2019 and 2023, also received a standing ovation at the Oscars. 

The film, made both by Israelis and Palestinians, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last year where it won the Berlinale Documentary Award.

However, its glory at the Oscars did not go down well with Israel, which called it a "sad moment for the world of cinema". Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar hit out at the documentary makers calling the work "slander'.

"The Oscar win for the film ‘No Other Country’ is a sad moment for the world of cinema – instead of presenting the complexity of our reality, the filmmakers chose to echo narratives that distort Israel’s image in the world," Zohar writes on X.

Zohar said while Israel believed freedom of expression was an important value, turning the slander of Israel into "a tool for international promotion"  was not creativity." "It is sabotage of the State of Israel, and after the massacre of October 7 and the ongoing war, it doubly hurts," he writes.

He also argued for a law that ensured public responses were directed towards making works that speak to the Israeli audience and "not to an industry that makes a career out of defaming the country at foreign festivals".

However, Zohar had earlier flak for insisting on diverting money towards commercial works rather than artistic films and documentaries that shed light on Israel’s periphery. Critics argue this is an effort by Israel’s right-wing government to silence liberal voices and limit the opportunities to hear non-mainstream perspectives.

Meanwhile, the documentary's co-director Yuval Abraham, after accepting the award, said the Palestinians and Israelis had made the film together because together our voices are stronger. "We see each other the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people must end," Abraham said. 

Basel Adra, co-director of the documentary, too said the film reflected "the harsh reality" that his fellow Palestinians had endured for many years. He told the crowd that he had recently become a father and hoped his daughter’s life would not be like his – “always fearing certain violence, home demolitions and forced displacement”.