The jury consisting of Primož Bezjak, Maja Prettner, and Nemanja Vojinović selected a winner among the five films competing for the Best Human Rights Documentary Award: No Other Land; Intercepted; Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat; Far from being Lipizzans and Trains.

The 27^th Documentary Film Festival Amnesty International Slovenia Best Human Rights Award goes to

No Other Land
By: Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor
Palestine, Norway, 2024

Jury motivation
A painful truth emerged in the competition section of human rights films. Namely, that the division between "us" and "them" only brings intolerance, hatred, conflict and thus more arms, exploitation, abuse, human rights violations, wars, genocides and, last but not least, environmental devastation. In addition to human rights, we must also start fighting for the right of all living beings to live and exist.

If, out of the five films we saw in the competition section, we had to single out one, it would have to be No Other Land. Not because the themes of the other films, such as the war in Ukraine, or the still topical issue of the strict selectivity in the granting of European citizenship in Austria, or the critique of colonialism and the destructiveness of capitalist forces during the decolonisation of the Congo in the brilliant Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat, deserve less attention or are less important.

No Other Land has won many awards, including an Academy Award. But it is important to point out that this film truly deserves the Amnesty International Award in every respect. With its unpretentious approach and the intimate view it affords through the eyes of the local people living in the West Bank, it has cut into our minds, haunting our memories and moving us deeply. The recorded moments of systemic violence perpetrated (and still being perpetrated) by Israeli military officials and illegal settlers are frightening. The film is a testament to the worst in humanity, but it also offers a glimpse of true solidarity. In the midst of this chaos, there is a tiny sliver of hope, as the film was made jointly by Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and Palestinian activist Basel Adra. In this story, they are just two people, friends, capable of empathy for each other, fighting against apartheid and the senseless, unspeakable cruelty of the Israelis, who are slowly obliterating the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories. Watching the film, we felt sadness, anger and the terrible frustration that we, as individuals, are powerless to change anything.

Despite all the atrocities we witness in the media, we shrug helplessly because it doesn't concern us directly and go about our daily errands, buying tiles for the new bathroom.

How would we feel if the home we built was demolished again and again and again?

What would we do if our children’s school were evacuated, the students forced to take their personal belongings outside, and the school razed to the ground in front of their very eyes. Would we at least scream?

Let the dust rise high, let it reach us and make something change. Make something happen. Allowing the Palestinians to escape from this living nightmare.