‘No Other Land’ directors thank Academy members for letter supporting Hamdan Ballal

Basel Adra, from left, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, and Yuval Abraham accept the award for best documentary feature film for “No Other Land” during the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
| Photo Credit: AP

Oscar-winning filmmakers of No Other Land, Hamdan Ballal, Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, and Yuval Abraham thanked members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for signing a letter that nudged the Academy to condemn the attack on Ballal by Israelis. They wrote a note that was distributed to all the signatories of the letter.

The note read,“Dear friends, We wanted to briefly share with you that Hamdan’s physical condition has improved over the past few days and he is at home with his children. The letter you wrote in support of him has been deeply moving for us personally, and also important politically, especially as the attacks on the Masafer Yatta community continue every day. At a time when we felt ignored by the Academy it meant a lot to read your letter and know we are not alone.”

On March 25, 2025, Ballal recounted to The Associated Press how he was heavily beaten by an Israeli civilians and soldiers the night before. A civilian, he said, kicked his head “like a football” during a settler attack on his village.

The soldiers then detained him and two other Palestinians. Ballal said he was kept blindfolded for more than 20 hours, sitting on the floor under a blasting air conditioner.

On Friday (March 28, 2025), more than 600 of the academy’s 11,000 members issued an open letter saying the academy’s statement “fell far short of the sentiments this moment calls for.” Among the signatories were Joaquin Phoenix, Olivia Colman, Riz Ahmed, Emma Thompson, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, and Jonathan Glazer.

After a meeting by the academy’s board of governors, the Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang responded with a new statement.

“We sincerely apologize to Mr. Ballal and all artists who felt unsupported by our previous statement and want to make it clear that the academy condemns violence of this kind anywhere in the world,” they wrote to members. “We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances.”