"No Other Land" wins Amnesty Award
No Other Land, a film by a Palestinian-Israeli collective dealing with the theme of apartheid in the West Bank, has won the Amnesty International (AI) Slovenia award for best human rights documentary after taking a number of other accolades, including Best Documentary Feature Film at this year's Academy Awards.
The award was presented at the conclusion of the Festival of Documentary Film in Ljubljana, which featured some 25 films, five of which were in the running for the AI Slovenia Award, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
The jury found the film memorable because of its unpretentious approach and intimate view through the eyes of the people of the West Bank. The moments of systemic violence committed by Israeli military officials and illegal settlers that are documented in the film are frightening, the jury wrote.
"The film is a testament to the worst in humanity, but it also offers a glimpse of true solidarity. In the midst of this chaos, there is a tiny sliver of hope, as the film was made jointly by Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and Palestinian activist Basel Adra.
"In this story, they are just two people, friends, capable of empathy for each other, fighting against apartheid and the senseless, unspeakable cruelty of the Israelis, who are slowly obliterating the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories," the judges said.
The other four documentaries in the running for the award were Intercepted, a film on the war in Ukraine from the perspective of Russian soldiers, Far from being Lipizzans, which explores naturalisation in Austria, Trains on the role of trains in the 20th century, and Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat, a critique of colonialism and the destructiveness of capitalist forces during the decolonisation of the Congo.
