Oscar-nominated West Bank feature director says films ‘can be part of change’ | Global News Avenue

At night, a Palestinian and Israel sit in the West Bank village.

They were wondering loudly whether Basel would be able to freely visit Yuval’s home in Israel, whether Basel’s village would receive a building permit, and whether they would one day be stable.

For years, friends have been filming the damage to the houses by Israeli troops, a well and a school, after a court order declared the Basel community illegal. They told each other that they hope they could change the reality.

Now, that scene has reached the largest stage in the world.

No other land in this film was nominated for the Oscar and Best Documentary BAFTA.

This is after the battle with Masafer Yatta, a community of about 20 villages, and a friendship between Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham.

In the movie, Basel was almost detained after protests, his father was arrested, and a soldier shot a member of the community around his neck while confiscating the electric machine, causing the man to be paralyzed and died.

Yuval told the BBC: “It’s horrible because yes, the movie succeeded and people realized it, but I don’t think there is enough action, especially among those who have the ability to change that goal .”

“I didn’t have fantasy movies that would change the world, but I know they could change individuals, and I know they could be part of a bigger change, and we really need this right now.”

Basel and Yuval have been produced with Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor for five years.

When asked about the paralyzed person, the IDF said its investigation found no crime. A spokesman said two Palestinians caught a soldier with weapons and vests, resulting in a shooting.

Palestinian witnesses Tell Israeli media They did not contact them as part of the preliminary investigation and believed the shooting was intentional.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. According to Israel’s objection to this, Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law. Over the past 55 years, their expansion has become the focus of violence and contradictory claims on land.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and hijacking 251 people. According to Hamas-The Ministry of Operations and Health, this triggered an Israeli military campaign that caused at least 47,500 people in Gaza.

since then, Violence related to settlers According to the United Nations, 13 Palestinians in the West Bank were killed by settlers.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that during the same period, there were more than 850 Palestinians, many of whom were killed by Israeli forces. The United Nations said that during that time, Palestinians in the West Bank killed 30 Israelis.

In 2024 UN records There are about 1,420 incidents of violence in Israeli settler – the highest number reportedly has been the record since 2006 that has resulted in casualties, property damage or both.

Basel said further attacks on Palestinians have occurred since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to power, and filmmakers feared that it would worsen.

Trump lifted the Biden administration’s sanctions on some settlers. President’s Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Already said Israel has a “title contract” for the West Bank, “no such thing” or settlement.

When asked Tuesday whether he agreed that the U.S. should recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, Trump explain He has not yet held a position, but he will make the announcement in four weeks.

The debate about Masafer Yatta began when Israel declared the area a closed military shooting zone in the 1980s, meaning no one could live there.

according to Notes from the 1981 meetingAt the time Israeli Minister of Agriculture Ariel Sharon provided military training areas to limit the “expansion of Arab villagers from hills to deserts.”

Israel believes that residents did not live there permanently before. The Palestinian population brought its case to the Israeli Supreme Court, which argued that the community had lived there for generations and pointed to a map from 1945 that showed some villages.

In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled to support Israel and allowed the demolition of houses and the removal of more than 1,000 villagers.

The scene in the movie shows a bulldozer destroying an elementary school, a truck pouring into a well, and the mechanical squeezes the house as the villagers face the army.

A girl cried and when asked her mother if there was any other place, she said, “We have no other land.”

The documentary also records intimate human moments, such as kissing her daughter when her mother moves into a cave and telling her: “You are my love…Tomorrow will be a new day.”

The film also explores Basel and Yuval’s friendship. Although they are about the same age and have similar values, their inequality will always exist.

While Yuval can travel freely in Israel and the West Bank, Basel cannot access Israel without a permit, which is part of the claim.

In the movie, Basel lamented that despite learning the law, he could only find construction in Israel, and when he was too hard to think about it, “I felt this huge frustration.”

The film doesn’t shy away from the tensions caused by Yuval’s identity, and a Palestinian asked him: “How can we stay when you come here, and it may be your brother or friend who destroyed me Home?”

Yuval told the BBC that he felt “responsible” about what was going on in the Basel community because “at the end of the day, the fuel in the bulldozer is my tax.”

Yuval, who joined Basel in his speech at the Berlin Film Festival for Best Documentary Awards last year, faced a rebound, criticized the “segregation situation” and called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

American film producer Ben Russell was there, wearing a Palestinian Keffiyeh scarf, who said he was in Gaza against “genocide.” Israel strongly denies allegations of genocide.

German Minister of Culture Claudia Roth Statement “Shocking unilaterality, and characterized by deep hatred of Israel”, while Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner Posted on social media This is an “unbearable relativization” and “anti-Semitism has no status in Berlin”.

Public broadcasters in Israel Commentary known as Yuval anti-Semitism.

Yuval said he was under death threat, telling the BBC that he was “very angry” with the label “rowing in terms of meaning as anti-Semitism rises on the right and left. The meaning of emptiness is empty.”

He said it was “ridiculous” to hear criticism when most of his family were killed in the Holocaust, adding that learning from this history should tell us about opposition to dehumanization…whoever is victim.

Despite winning several international awards, no other land in the United States has no self-distribution in the United States because it did not find a formal distributor there – a rare documentary for Oscar nominations.

One of the last scenes of this movie starts on October 13, 2023 Recorded a settler shooting his cousin, His hands seemed empty in his stomach. In other videos, settlers throw stones at the house while soldiers watch.

The IDF said the shooting had been transferred to the state attorney’s office, which the BBC commented.

Currently in Masafer Yatta,,,,, Basel says settlers have “Infinite Power” “Daily harassment”.

He said there were three major settler attacks in January, including a 72-year-old who was taken to the hospital after being hit by a stick in the head, and about 15 people were arrested two days before January 30, he said. Graz them or hunt sheep. Sheep far away from settlers. Israeli police did not respond to a request for comment from the BBC.

The UK has approved three settler posts and four organizations that are supporting violence against West Bank communities. Yuval called on Britain to approve all settlers, believing that this is indeed a deterrent.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman told the BBC that the Foreign Secretary “has been well aware of the fact that they must cut down on settlers’ violence and end the expansion of reconciliation”.

“We regularly take violent actions against settlers, including through targeted sanctions and will continue to do everything we can to ensure the protection of Palestinian rights and to consider those responsible for violence,” the statement said.

Yuval said: “I really believe that, besides achieving a just, fair political solution, Palestinians are free, truly free, our people, both of them will have security and self-determination.

“It really makes me angry, not only is my government acting in another way, but the world is allowing it to happen for so long.”

In the movie, Basel recalls Tony Blair’s seven-minute visit to his village – after which Israel canceled the demolition order.

“It’s a story about power,” he said.

Now Basel has gained “the power and strength of the people around me”, which makes him want to not give up.

“A drop of water won’t change, but keeps going into the water, it will change.”