Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham, winners of the Best Documentary Feature Film for “No Other Land”, pose in the press room during the 97th Annual Oscars at Ovation Hollywood on 2 March 2025, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
No Other Land wins Oscar for best documentary feature
Congratulations to the team behind No Other Land, Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham. IMS supported the film in an early phase of its production.
The film No Other Land won the Oscar for best documentary feature film at Sunday’s ceremony. The film depicts the unique friendship between a Palestinian activist and an Israeli journalist as they work together to document how the Israeli military and Israeli settlers displace Palestinians from their villages in the occupied West Bank.
Rasmus Steen, head of IMS Documentary Film, saw early on that No Other Land had potential to tell a relevant story in a different way. IMS provided funding for the film and has closely followed its progress since then.
“The story is nothing new. The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since 1967 and there have been Israeli settlers and violence against Palestinians of one sort or another the entire time. Innumerable UN reports and articles have been written on the topic. But documentary films have a different ability to move people and to bring them close to the consequences that global politics have on single individuals,” says Rasmus Steen.
IMS has supported independent filmmakers and film institutions from majority world countries for more than 15 years. IMS focuses our efforts on providing financial support for film productions, empowering film institutions and amplifying the reach and influence of filmmakers’ documentaries.
Rasmus Steen has attended several screenings of No Other Land: “I work with the Middle East on a daily basis, but even I was surprised the first time I saw No Other Land. I could never have guessed how terrible conditions are in the West Bank. And it’s been my impression that the people that have seen the film have had the same reaction.”
On Sunday, No Other Land was honoured with the film industry’s most distinguished prize. The question is whether the film and all of the publicity that comes in the wake of an Oscar can change the situation of the Palestinian people.
“The film may not change the situation right here and now, but it can create a much greater awareness of the harsh everyday life of ordinary Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. And I think, in the long term, that can create change,” says Rasmus Steen.
No Other Land follows Palestinian activist, Basel Adra, and Israeli journalist, Yuval Abraham, as they resist and document the violence and discrimination by Israeli military and settlers against Palestinians on the West Bank. It is the fifth IMS-supported documentary film to be nominated for an Oscar and the first to win.
Over 15,000 Danes have seen No Other Land in cinemas and a further 16,000 young Danes will see it through a school programme. Both initiatives are a product of IMS’ collaboration with CPH:DOX. No Other Land can be streamed on PARA:DOX in Denmark.
“IMS funds and supports films that have the potential to bring about societal, cultural and political change and I cannot think of a film that lives up to this criterium to a greater extent than No Other Land. This film sadly gets more relevant and urgent by the hour,” says IMS Executive Director Jesper Højberg.
IMS’ work with documentary film is supported by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and SIDA. Learn more about IMS’ Documentary Film programme here.
