Culture minister decries Oscar win for Palestinian-Israeli documentary on Israeli demolitions in Palestinian village

Culture Minister Miki Zohar decries the Oscar win for “No Other Land,” a Palestinian-Israeli documentary which chronicles Israel’s demolitions in the Palestinian West Bank village of Masafer Yatta.

“The Oscar win for the film ‘No Other Country’ is a sad moment for the world of cinema – instead of presenting the complexity of our reality, the filmmakers chose to echo narratives that distort Israel’s image in the world,” Zohar writes on X.

“Freedom of expression is an important value, but turning the slander of Israel into a tool for international promotion is not creativity – it is sabotage of the State of Israel, and after the massacre of October 7 and the ongoing war, it doubly hurts,” he writes.

Zohar says the win demonstrates the need for legislation “to ensure that public resources are directed to works that speak to the Israeli audience, and not to an industry that makes a career out of defaming the country at foreign festivals.”

Zohar has championed reform to push government money toward commercially oriented movies rather than artistic films and documentaries that shed light on Israel’s periphery and minorities, with financing going to films based on audience numbers and ticket sales.

The proposal is seen by professionals as an effort by Israel’s right-wing government to silence liberal voices and limit the opportunities to hear non-mainstream perspectives.