No other landA documentary condemning Israeli rule over the occupied West Bank received an Oscar nomination this morning, cementing its place at the top.
The film, directed by four Israeli and Palestinian directors, took home most of the pre-Oscar awards, including top prize at the Cinema Eye Honors, Best Documentary and Best Director at the IDA Awards, and Best European Documentary at the European Film Awards. , and the Best Documentary Film Award at the Berlin Film Festival, where No other land It premiered last February.
The film provides a ground-level look at Palestinian life in the rural area of Masafer Yatta, where West Bank villagers live under the constant threat of eviction from their homes by the Israeli Defense Forces who claim their land for a military training area. The nomination comes just days after a ceasefire took effect in occupied Gaza, about 60 miles to the west.
All of this year’s nominated documentaries tell global stories: Black Box Diariesset in Japan; Porcelain WarAbout the brutal war in Ukraine; The soundtrack to the coupA film exploring the fate of Congo’s first democratically elected leader sugar-caneAbout systemic abuse at an Indian residential school in British Columbia. Only one of the nominated directors is American – Brendan Bellomo, who directed Porcelain War With Ukrainian artist and soldier Slava Leontyev. Last year, no American director was honored in the feature documentary category.
Shiori Ito became the first Japanese director to be nominated in the documentary category Black Box Diariesa film in which she investigates the sexual assault she suffered by a prominent Japanese television journalist. The film’s editor, Emma Ryan Yamazaki, received an Oscar nomination today for her short documentary Beating Heart Tools. Eric Neary received two Oscar nominations this morning, one for production Black Box DiariesAnd for production Beating Heart Tools (He is married to Yamazaki.)
Black Box Diaries It hails from MTV Documentary Films, which also received recognition this morning for its short documentary I’m ready, Sheriffdirected by Smriti Mundra. MTV’s reality segment has earned seven Academy Award nominations in the five years of its creation — marking its debut for the 2019 short documentary St. Louis Supermandirected by Mundra and Sami Khan.
No other land It is the only nominated documentary lacking US distribution (although it will receive a very limited release beginning February 7 via Michael Tuckman Media, facilitated by Cinetic Media). Porcelain War It is distributed by Picturehouse. The soundtrack to the coup Comes from Kino Lorber, and sugar-cane It is distributed by National Geographic Documentaries.
All of the directors recognized in the Feature Documentary category are first-time nominees, including Ito; Johann Grimonprez Soundtrack; No other landThe quartet consisting of Basil Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szur and Hamdan Bilal; Bellomo and Leontiev for Porcelain War, and Canadian duo Julien Brave NoiseCat and Emilie Casey for their film sugar-cane.
‘sugar-cane’
National Geographic documentaries
NatGeo continues its impressive Oscars streak with sugar-cane. The Walt Disney Company division has scored nominations for Best Documentary Feature in recent years for Bobby Wine: The People’s President, Fire of love, The cavewinning in 2018 for Free solo.
sugar-caneNatGeo’s latest nominee, examines the horrific legacy of Indian residential schools that operated in Canada and the United States for more than a century, with the deliberate mission of depriving Indigenous children of their language and culture. Before leaving office, President Biden formally apologized for the US government’s role in supporting the residential school system. According to Biden administration statistics, nearly a thousand children were killed or disappeared while attending these schools, although other sources indicate that these numbers are higher.
“Coup soundtrack”
Kino Lorber
Also among the nominations this morning: Four of the five documentaries premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. only No other land It premiered elsewhere (at the Berlinale). Porcelain War It won the US Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance last year, while sugar-cane It received directing honors in the Sundance category. The soundtrack to the coup It won the Special Jury Prize for Cinematic Creativity at the 2024 festival.
In the Best Short Documentary category, the nominees are: Death in numbers; I’m ready, Sheriff; incident; Beating Heart Toolsand The only girl in the orchestra. The latest film, directed by Molly O’Brien, is streaming on Netflix. The streamer had three films competing for best documentary – girls, The Wonderful Life of Ibelinand Will and HarperBut none of these titles received nominations.
These are the nominees in the Feature Documentary and Short Documentary categories:
Best Documentary Film:
Black Box Diaries
Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari, and Hannah Ackfelin
No other land
Basil Adra, Rachel Szur, Hamdan Bilal, and Yuval Abraham
Porcelain War
Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontiev, Aniela Sidorska, and Paula Dupre-Besmen
Coup soundtrack
Johan Grimonprez, Dan Milius, and Remy Grilletti
sugar-cane
Candidates will be selected
Best short documentary:
Death in numbers
Kim A. Snyder and Janek L. Robillard
I’m ready, Sheriff
Smriti Mundra and Maya Ghanib
incident
Bill Morrison and Jimmy Calvin
Beating Heart Tools
Emma Ryan Yamazaki and Eric Neary
The only girl in the orchestra
Molly O’Brien and Lisa Remington
