Embedded Files
05/27/2025 - A screening of No Other Land (2024) took place at the Saipan Pacific Islands Club on Wednesday, May 21st. The documentary chronicles the forcible expulsion of the residents of Masafer Yatta in the southern West Bank during a 5-year-long occupation from the summer of 2019 to the winter of 2023 by Israeli forces. The documentary was co-created by Palestinian and Israeli journalists, Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal, and Rachel Szor.
The film won numerous high-profile accolades in the New York Film Festival, the International Documentary Association, and the New York Film Critics Circle; as well as scoring the best documentary prize in the Berlin International Film Festival. In March of 2025, the film also won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in the United States. Despite the film’s popularity, No Other Lands has not been picked up for streaming by distributors in the USA.
When asked what he thought of the film, Saipan native Gåusali Tomokane responded, “...in many ways, it was more insightful than it was anything else. I think that part of it being insightful added to how empowering it was to really speak on these issues."
Tomokane added, "…Because I live in Saipan, and so many of us were only born and raised in the islands, we’d never really get to know what struggles in other areas looked like. Especially as it relates to people who are experiencing real horrors, in real time. We know what it's like to have our land and love it, and protect it, and stand up for it. To think that there are some people who have their land, who love their land, who call it their home, and are continuing to resist in the name of their love for their land as they see it being brutally taken away - as they see it being destroyed, as they see it being held - held by a power that they don't participate in or get to communicate with… its heartbreaking.”"
Similarly, Salam Castro Younis, a Saipan-born Palestinian Chamorro, shared his view on the screening, commenting that the film was a “powerful learning experience.”
“I've been watching what's going on… as a Palestinian, knowing the history, I was still able to learn new things from this film and just witness how brutal the occupation is… even more. (Saipan) is such a small community, and draws parallels with what's going on in Gaza right now. And it's a shame that it's being blocked from distribution, as an Oscar-winning documentary.” said Younis.
When asked what brought him to the screening, Younis responded, “Of course, to make a statement and to get a voice to push our leaders here in the Commonwealth, to push our voice out there and to stop the genocide in Gaza.”
According to Younis, the rights to host a screening for No Other Land was purchased before streaming rights expired on May 9th. The proceeds from purchasing the streaming license were distributed to fund aid for Masafer Yatta communities that were featured in the documentary. From there, Saipan volunteers helped to draw community attention through social media posts. After being asked if there were any more events on the horizon, Younis responded, “Oh, yes. We hope to do more film screenings - there are other films we’d like to show. We hope to get a lot of - more - solidarity and community support to do a larger protest, just to get things to change sooner rather than later.”
No Other Lands was brought to the CNMI for a limited time by Marianas for Palestine, Our Commonwealth 670, and Prutehi Guahan.
Story and photos by Kianna Reyes.
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