Palestinian-Israeli film No Other Land made history at the Oscars on Sunday. Despite being a co-production, it's the first prize won by Palestine at the Oscars and depicts the struggles faced by journalist Basel Adra as he attempts to protect his West Bank village Masafer Yatta from Israeli settlers.
While a handful of Palestinian films have been nominated over the years, what is the relationship between the Academy Awards, one of the industry's biggest nights, and the Palestinian cause? And which films or talents from the occupied West Bank and Gaza have been recognised?
Here's a brief history of Palestine at the Oscars.
Vanessa Redgrave's acceptance speech, 1978
On April 3, 1978, English actress Vanessa Redgrave won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in the drama Julia. After paying tribute to the writer of the film, Lillian Hellman, she ended her speech with a message directed to the Palestinian people. “And I salute you, and I pay tribute to you, and I think you should be very proud that in the last few weeks you've stood firm, and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums,” she said. “I salute you and I thank you and I pledge to you that I will continue to fight against anti-Semitism and fascism.”
Redgrave’s presence at the awards had already garnered protests by Zionist groups outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on the day of the ceremony, but they were equalled by supporters of Palestine. The attention was brought on by a documentary titled The Palestinian, in which Redgrave interviews members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and its leader, Yasser Arafat.
Promises, 2002
Israeli-American filmmaker BZ Goldberg directed Promises, a documentary film in which he interviews Palestinian and Israeli children in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The film was nominated for Best Documentary in 2002. While being produced and directed by Americans and Israelis, the film examines the conflict and occupation from the point of view of seven Palestinian children.
The Oscar in the category that year went to Murder on a Sunday Morning, which centres on the Brenton Butler case, in which a 15-year-old black boy was wrongfully accused of murder in Jacksonville, Florida.
Divine Intervention, 2002
Elia Suleiman’s film Divine Intervention was nominated by Palestine to represent it in the Best Foreign Language Film (now called Best International Feature Film) category. The nomination was rejected by the Academy, who justified their decision by saying that Palestine was not internationally recognised as a country.
The decision was met with pushback, as many had pointed out that territories such as Hong Kong and Puerto Rico had been allowed to nominate films to the category in the past. The Academy changed the rules soon after and allowed Divine Intervention to be entered in the running the following year. Unfortunately, it did not make the final list of nominees.
Paradise Now, 2006
The first Palestinian film to be nominated for an Academy Award was Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now. The film follows two childhood friends who are tasked with carrying out a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
After its nomination, pro-Israel groups pressured the Academy into changing the film’s country designation from Palestine to Palestinian Authority, a decision protested by Abu-Assad. Eventually, the film’s country stated Palestinian Territories. The film lost the Oscar to Tsotsi, about a young street thug who steals a car with a baby in the back seat, from South Africa.
Ajami, 2010
Palestinian Scandar Copti and Israeli Yaron Shani directed Ajami, a film which represented Israel in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It follows five people who live in a part of Tel Aviv housing Muslim and Christian communities.
The duo became the first Palestinian-Israeli pair to have a film nominated. The trend continued in 2013 with 5 Broken Cameras and again this year with No Other Land. Ajami lost the Oscar to The Secret in Their Eyes from Argentina.
5 Broken Cameras, 2013
Palestinian Emad Burnat and Israeli Guy Davidi direct 5 Broken Cameras, a documentary that follows a Palestinian farmer as he attempts to chronicle the aggression he faces from the Israeli army.
The film was nominated for Best Documentary Film at the 2013 Academy Awards. The film lost the Oscar to Malik Bendjelloul’s documentary Searching for Sugar Man, which is about two South Africans looking to find what happened to the musician Sixto Rodriguez.
Omar, 2014
Hany Abu-Assad earned Palestine its second nomination in 2013 for the film Omar. The film follows a young man in the West Bank who regularly jumps over the dividing wall to see his girlfriend. During one of his jumps, he is captured by Israeli soldiers and gets tortured and humiliated by them. The act spurs him to get revenge.
Omar was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2015 Academy Awards, representing Palestine. The film lost the Oscar to The Great Beauty, which is about an ageing writer from Italy who recollects his youth.
Ave Maria, 2016
Directed by Basil Khalil, this independent comedy short set in Palestine tells the story of a group of Israeli settlers who unexpectedly depend on Palestinian nuns for rescue. Though it was a strong contender, it ultimately lost the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film to the Irish film Stutterer, about a man rendered mute by a crippling stutter.
The Present – 2021
The short film The Present marks the directorial debut of British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi. It follows Yousef, portrayed by Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri, as he sets out to buy an anniversary gift for his wife. However, the journey becomes nearly impossible due to the hardships of life under Israeli occupation.
The film ultimately lost the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film to Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe's Two Distant Strangers, which examines the deaths of black Americans during encounters with police.
Artists4Ceasefire, 2024
At last year’s Academy Awards ceremony, many film professionals, including actors and directors, wore pins symbolising their support for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Artists4Ceasefire collective had earlier called on then-president Joe Biden to push for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the delivery of necessary humanitarian aid to those affected.
Artists who wore the collective's pin included American director Ava DuVernay, actor Mark Ruffalo, British actor and rapper Riz Ahmed, French actors Milo Machado-Graner and Swann Arlaud, American-Egyptian comedian Ramy Youssef and pop stars Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell.
The ceremony also witnessed a speech by British director Jonathan Glazer, whose film The Zone of Interest won two Oscars, Best International Feature and Best Sound.
“Our film shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst – it’s shaped all of our past and present,” Glazer said in his controversial speech. “Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether it’s the victims of October 7 in Israel or of the ongoing attack on Gaza, all are victims of this dehumanisation.”
No Other Land, 2025
No Other Land's Best Documentary Feature marks Palestine’s first-ever Oscar win. The film follows Palestinian journalist Basel Adra as he fights to safeguard his West Bank village, Masafer Yatta, from Israeli settlers. Adra, who shares co-director role with Israel's Yuval Ibrahim, called it “a big honour”.
“About two months ago, I became a father. I hope my daughter will not have to live the same life I'm living now: always fearing settler violence, home demolitions and forced displacements that my community and myself are living and facing every day under the Israeli occupation,” Adra said on stage.
“This is the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist as we call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people.”
Despite already winning a handful of awards, the documentary has largely been shunned by studios and has been self-distributed by the film's production team in the US, despite finding distribution in 24 countries including the UK and France.
In his speech, Abraham added that the film was made by both Palestinian and Israelis “because together, our voices are stronger”.
