No Other Land director warns settler attacks worsening despite Academy Award

• Basel Adra says global recognition brought no political action.
• Filmmaker reports worsening settler and military violence.
• Documentary highlights forced displacement in Masafer Yatta.
• Adra continues confronting attacks with his camera.

Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra says his Academy Award has done nothing to ease escalating illegal settler and military aggression in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking in Istanbul to Anadolu, he explained that conditions in Masafer Yatta have deteriorated since his documentary No Other Land gained worldwide recognition.

Adra, a director, journalist and human-rights activist from At-Tuwani, won the 2025 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature alongside co-directors Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. The film, a joint Palestinian–‘Israeli’ production, follows communities resisting home demolitions carried out by ‘Israeli’ forces and settlers.

- A story rooted in daily life under occupation -

Adra said the purpose of the documentary was to make viewers understand a reality long hidden from global audiences. “The main purpose was to tell the world we exist,” he said. He recalled years of demolitions, land seizures and attacks that he documented across the region. “What’s happening there stays there, so I wanted to show the reality, the daily life under occupation.”

He described the heavy emotional toll of filming violence in his own village, including the moment he unknowingly captured footage of his cousin being shot by an ‘Israeli’ settler in October 2023. “That was the hardest thing I ever filmed,” he said. “Sometimes I got attacked, dragged, prevented from filming. It’s totally not an easy thing.”

The documentary resonated globally, he said, because it presented life “as it is” without staging or scripts. “We showed all sides, suffering, tragedies, and moments where people try to find life,” he said.

- No political shift despite the Oscar -

Adra said the international recognition brought no improvement on the ground. “No, nothing changed,” he said. “Changing needs serious actions. I wanted political influence, political actions, and unfortunately, this didn’t happen. The situation got worse and worse in my home.”

He attributed the lack of action to political interests among Western governments supporting ‘Israel’. “Those backing this Zionist regime in the US and Europe are funding it with weapons and diplomatic cover. If they were interested in ending the occupation, they could do it.”

- Settlers and forces acting as one -

Adra said ‘Israeli’ officials are openly signaling their intentions for the West Bank, including blocking a two-state solution and expanding illegal settlements. “The soldiers, police, courts and settlers are arms of one body that wants to erase us,” he said.

He described the fear Palestinians face during coordinated settler and army raids. “It’s very scary when you have people with guns and masks, and soldiers standing beside them,” he said. “A lot of people run away to protect themselves. Some choose to confront.”

Asked what he chooses, he replied, “I confront with my camera.”

- Growing dangers for activists -

His remarks come months after ‘Israeli’ soldiers raided his home and searched his wife’s phone in front of their infant child. In July, activist and English teacher Awdah Hathleen, who consulted on the film, was killed by an ‘Israeli’ settler.

“What we want from this work as journalists and filmmakers is political change, somebody to stop demolitions and settlers’ attacks. But unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”