Israeli settlers beat up one of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary film No Other Land on Monday in the occupied West Bank before he was detained by the Israeli military, according to two of his fellow directors and other witnesses.
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The filmmaker Hamdan Ballal was one of three Palestinians detained in the village of Susiya, according to lawyer Leah Tsemmel. Police told her they are being held at a military base for medical treatment and she said she has not been able to speak to them.
Basel Adra, another co-director, witnessed the detention and said around two dozen settlers – some masked, some carrying guns, some in Israeli uniform – attacked the village. Soldiers who arrived pointed their guns at the Palestinians, while settlers continued throwing stones.
“We came back from the Oscars and every day since there is an attack on us,” Adra said. “This might be their revenge on us for making the movie. It feels like a punishment.”
The Israeli military said it detained three Palestinians suspected of hurling stones at forces and one Israeli civilian involved in a “violent confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians – a claim witnesses disputed. The military said it had transferred them to Israeli police for questioning and had evacuated an Israeli citizen from the area to receive medical treatment.
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No Other Land, which won the Oscar this year for best documentary, chronicles the struggle by residents of the Masafer Yatta area to stop the Israeli military from demolishing their villages. Ballal and Adra, both from Masafer Yatta, made the joint Palestinian-Israeli production with Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.
The film has won a string of international awards, starting at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2024.