‘No Other Land’ Co-Director Hamdan Ballal Beaten and Attacked, Says Yuval Abraham: ‘No Sign of Him Since’

by

It has been reported that Hamdan Ballal, one of the co-directors of the Academy Award-winning documentary “No Other Land,” which focuses on Israel and Palestine, is currently missing following an attack. This information comes from a sequence of posts shared by his fellow director, Yuval Abraham.

On X Monday, Abraham posted that a mob of settlers had brutally murdered Hamdan Ballal, a joint director of our film ‘No Other Land.’ They inflicted severe injuries on his head and stomach, causing him to bleed profusely. When he called for an ambulance, soldiers stormed it and took him away. Since then, there has been no news or sighting of him.

Activists from the Center for Jewish Nonviolence witnessed Ballal being brutally assaulted by a gang of 10 to 20 masked Israeli settlers on the spot. They explained that this group pelted him and other activists with stones and sticks, shattered their car windows, and sliced their tires.

In my own words as a movie reviewer, here’s my take: I recently came across a video that shows an enigmatic figure forcefully shoving another person. The scene unfolds with the people filming the incident quickly scurrying back to their vehicle. I’ve reached out to representatives from Cinetic Media for their insights on this intriguing footage.

The reported incident occurred about three weeks following “No Other Land” being awarded the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Onstage, directors Abraham, Ballal, Basel Adra, and Rachel Szor seized the moment to highlight the ongoing devastation in Gaza.

Adra, a Palestinian journalist and activist, urged global action to halt the injustice against Palestinians and prevent ethnic cleansing. Approximately two months ago, he welcomed a daughter into the world, hoping that she would never experience the life he lives today. The film ‘No Other Land’ mirrors the brutal reality we have faced for decades, yet continue to resist.

Under Israeli-Palestinian collaboration, “No Other Land” tells the story of a Palestinian family residing in the West Bank whose home is demolished by the Israeli authorities, leading to their displacement. However, amidst these challenging circumstances, Adra and Abraham, an Israeli journalist, develop an unlikely friendship and jointly work on recording this narrative.

Initially screened at the Berlin Film Festival last year, the documentary garnered both the top jury prize from the documentary category and the audience’s favorite award. The film’s recognition grew further during the autumn festival season, with showings at Toronto, Vancouver, and New York film festivals. Regrettably, it remains without a U.S. distributor to this day, causing the filmmakers to opt for self-distribution in New York City on January 31 and Los Angeles on February 7.

Read More

2025-03-24 23:16