‘No Other Land,’ ‘Forest’ Win Big at Millennium Docs Against Gravity Festival

variety.com:

Murtada Elfadl “No Other Land,” a documentary about the resistance of Palestinian activists against forced displacement and settler expansion in the West Bank community of Masafer Yatta, won the Millennium Docs Against Gravity grand prize in the main competition.

The jury, comprised of the writer of this article Variety critic Murtada Elfadl, Anna Hints, director of “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood,” and Lauren Greenfield, director of “The Queen of Versailles,” cited its “power in crystallizing grave injustice into a story of friendship and how hope can thrive only when everyone has freedom.” The filmmakers – the Palestinian and Israeli collective of Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor – could not attend the closing ceremony because of the political situation and the award was accepted on their behalf by the ambassador of the Palestinian Authority in Poland.

The jury awarded two special mentions, citing the strength of the 12 films in competition. The first to “Sugarcane,” by directors Emily Kassie and Julian Brave NoiseCat, for its depiction of “the experiences of indigenous communities around the world.

Communities whose voices are often muffled but should be heard.” “Agent of Happiness,” about the eternal and cerebral question of what makes people happy, won the other special mention and the award was accepted by filmmaker Dorottya Zurbó, who co-directed with Arun Bhattarai.