Promotional poster for the movie “No Other Land” (Al Jazeera)

The conclusion of the Berlin Film Festival, a few days ago, came with a surprise that the German political and media movement did not expect. The event, which is considered one of the most important and largest film festivals in the world, showed the solidarity of a large number of attendees with stopping the war on Gaza and rejecting the non-stop killing of tens of thousands of them.

"No Other Earth" movie

The most prominent moment of support for the Palestinian people in the activities of the 74th session of the Berlin Festival came during the screening of the film “No Other Land,” which revolves around the systematic displacement and liquidation to which the people of the West Bank are subjected, in favor of seizing new Palestinian lands and establishing Israeli settlements on them. .

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The documentary, which was shown in the “Panorama” section, one of the most important sections of the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival, received such great public admiration that it won the section prize, which is awarded according to the audience’s vote.

The film's premiere witnessed the four filmmakers declaring that their clear position is the necessity of a ceasefire in Gaza. It also witnessed some of the audience members chanting, "Free Palestine." This chant, despite its simplicity, sometimes leads to the arrest of its perpetrators. On the streets of Berlin as a result of the German authorities considering it an anti-Semitic act.

Berlin Festival poster (Festival website)

Years of documentation

At these moments, the documentary seems to express what is happening in Palestine in real time, but in reality it is a long-term documentation of what the people of the West Bank are experiencing, which gives it a documentary power that goes beyond political debates.

In the film, we follow Basil Adra's documentation through his mobile phone camera of what the people of the Palestinian villages of Masafer Yatta have been exposed to since 2019, including the destruction of their lands and homes and their displacement by the Israeli occupation forces.

The film also documents the clear difference in rights between the people of the West Bank and the film maker himself, “Bassel Adra,” and the two Israeli activists and journalists who join the film team, “Yuval Abraham” and “Rachel Szur.”

While the demolition of Palestinian homes continues during the day, the people of the West Bank are trying to rebuild their homes at night.

The film captures the moment a local resident confronts the occupation forces, who shoot him directly in front of the camera.

Attempts to rebuild villages continue even as they continue to be demolished by the occupation authorities.

The events of the film continue until the year 2023, with a noticeable increase in the violence of the occupation forces, and the film ends by documenting sad moments, but they remain cinematically immortal.

The film is an important document that no one can deny, and it is suitable for showing to a Western viewer who is skeptical about the extent of the suffering that the Palestinian people are experiencing.

The film “No Other Land” revolves around the displacement and systematic elimination to which the people of the West Bank are subjected (Source: Antipodes Films)

Deserved honor and harsh criticism

The Palestinian achievement continued at the closing ceremony when the film won the official award for the best documentary film at the festival’s activities. In the speech of thanks after the announcement of the victory, “Basil Adra” spoke about how difficult it is to celebrate while thousands of his countrymen are being killed by the Israeli army, and his village is being demolished. By Israeli army vehicles.

He added that his only request from Germany while standing in Berlin is for the German government to stop supplying weapons to Israel and to respect United Nations calls for a ceasefire.

While the audience thought that Basil Adra's strong speech was the highest level of boldness at the closing ceremony, Yuval Abraham's speech was more severe, as the young director spoke about how he now stands next to his Palestinian friend as two equal people.

But when they return, the situation will change completely. Basil Adra - like all Palestinians in the West Bank - lives under military rule from the Israeli occupation, while Yuval lives under civilian rule.

The Israeli director has the right to vote in the elections, while the Palestinian director does not have the right to do so.

Yuval Abraham eventually described the situation as “apartheid” and that it must be ended.

Angry German reactions

After the end of the ceremony, angry official German reactions spread. Berlin Mayor Kai Wegener of the Christian Democratic Party tweeted on the X website, saying: “What happened at the Berlin Festival was an unacceptable approach. There is no place for anti-Semitism in Berlin, and this applies to art as well.” ".

In a related context, the Minister of Culture in the Berlin government, Joey Kyallo, who is also from the Christian Democratic Party, described the Berlin closing ceremony as being filled with “anti-Israel propaganda.”

Claudia Roth of the Green Party and Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media, who is always present as a government representative to supervise the festival, also stated that she would launch an investigation into the criticism she witnessed of Israel during the closing ceremony.

This government anger was accompanied by German media anger in various German newspapers and websites, which accused the artists of anti-Semitism and did not discuss the objective criticism they made of the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians and their requests for a ceasefire, in which they were shared by the majority of countries in the world.

Source: Al Jazeera