Hamdan Ballal’s ‘No Other Land’ co-directors skewer film academy for silence on attack, detainment

Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and Palestinian activist Basel Adra, who are co-directors and stars of the documentary, spoke out on Wednesday against the film academy for its lack of response to the recent attack on Ballal and his subsequent detention by Israeli military and police in the occupied West Bank. Israel authorities arrested Ballal following a violent assault by settlers on Monday; he was released the next day. The same team – Abraham, Adra, and Israeli filmmaker Rachel Szor – had recently won the documentary prize for “No Other Land” at the 97th Academy Awards just weeks prior to this event.