By In Miami Beach, O Cinema’s choice to screen the documentary “No Other Land” resulted in a now-withdrawn threat from the city’s mayor to terminate the independent theater’s lease.
The film chronicles the journey of Palestinian journalist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham as they document the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the West Bank’s occupied Masafer Yatta from 2019 to 2023.
Despite a recent Oscar win for Best Documentary Film this year, the documentary has struggled to find a proper distributor to be released into movie theaters since its 2024 premiere.
The Art Theatre of Long Beach is among the few independent theaters to show the film.
After premiering at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival in early 2024, “No Other Land” gained critical acclaim as it entered awards season, winning the 2025 Academy Award for Best Documentary Film. Photo credit: Dante Estrada
Kennedy Ghaill, the Art Theatre’s film programmer, curates screenings and acquires films for the theater. Hearing about the movie, Ghaill helped present it with six screenings on March 24 and 25.
With 340 seats in the theater, Ghaill said Monday’s showing attracted an audience of 150 to 200 people, while Tuesday saw between 175 and 300 viewers in attendance.
“As far as I know, there’s no plan for an online release, and there’s still no major distribution deal in place,” Ghaill said. “So hopefully, more theaters keep showing it.”
At the 3 p.m. showing on Tuesday, the audience sat as close to the screen as possible to see and follow along with the documentary.
Many were silent once the credits rolled in, while others muttered to themselves or those near them.
Attendees poured out of the theater at 3 p.m., after a showing of “No Other Land,” with mixed feelings of devastation or excitement to share their viewing experiences. Photo credit: Dante Estrada
Muttering words of devastation among the crowd was Shaun Maderazo, a 49-year-old Long Beach resident and recently admitted CSULB student who said he felt heartbroken after the showing.
Self-described as being “well aware” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Maderazo weighed in on the recent news of Hamdan Ballal.
As reported by Kat Lonsdorf of NPR, Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of the documentary, was assaulted and detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank on March 24.
Witnesses and residents in the West Bank recounted a group of masked Israeli settlers who attacked Ballal, according to NPR.
“We’re always taught to live authentically and stand in our powers and stand for ourselves, and to be silenced for having a voice—it blows my mind. It diminishes hope a little bit,” Maderazo said.
Several Academy members, including Mark Ruffalo, Alfonso Cuarón and Penelope Cruz, criticized the Academy for a “lack of response” to Ballal’s abduction.
As a result, an open letter was penned against the Academy, condemning the Oscars’ governing body for not defending the filmmakers behind “No Other Land” after previously awarding them in their ceremony.
Art Theatre employees informed attendees that the projector was experiencing technical errors that displayed a block of color on the screen during the film. Attendees continued to watch the documentary even when presented with the option for a refund. Photo credit: Dante Estrada
As attendees left the theater, Long Beach State alumnus Maeve J. and Long Beach resident Michael G. passed out flyers with information about the Israel-Palestine war.
Some of the information included a list of companies from the BDS Movement to boycott large corporations like McDonald’s and Chevron that provide funding to the state of Israel.
“No Other Land” has not been picked up by an official distributor. However, at the few local theatres where it has been screened, it has earned more than $2 million worldwide.
“It’s a movie that folks who are not engaged need to go see,” Michael G. said.“The people who are unengaged and still have told themselves it’s too complicated or all the other ways that we’ve been led by propaganda that disengaged from this, those are the folks who need to see this movie more than anybody.”
Editor’s notes:
- Changed plural word of evokes to singular in headline at 11:50 a.m. on March 29.
- Corrected several references of Art Theatre spelling at 11:51 a.m. on March 29.
