“No Other Land” has racked up festival awards, critical acclaim and the Oscar for best documentary feature. Yet the film, a narrative exposé about Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes directed by two Palestinians and two Israelis, has not been acquired by a traditional North American distributor. This is partly a reflection of the collapse of studio interest in newsy documentaries as well as hesitance around a movie that condemns Israeli policies.
But as the filmmakers rolled out the movie without the marketing muscle and prestige of a typical release, it has flourished. By the admittedly parched standards of post-pandemic theatrical releases of topical documentaries, it is a hit.
“No Other Land” has been a top 25 film each of the past three weeks since its Oscar win, according to the film database Box Office Mojo, with ticket sales set to eclipse $2 million domestically by the end of next weekend. It was playing on 130 screens across the country last weekend, a small number when compared to the thousands of a studio blockbuster, but robust given its circumstances. (The film’s theatrical rights have been acquired in more than 20 other countries.)
“Documentaries are having a harder time theatrically these days,” said Connie White, who has programmed “No Other Land” at a dozen theaters from Brookline, Mass., and Pleasantville, N.Y., to Tucson, Ariz., and Omaha. “This is remarkable.”
At Film Forum in Manhattan, “No Other Land” sold out seven shows its opening weekend in February and a week’s worth of evening screenings after its Oscar win. It “is shaping up to be among the highest-attended films in our 55-year history,” said Sonya Chung, the cinema’s president and director.
At the national Alamo Drafthouse chain, which screens studio tentpoles like “Captain America: Brave New World” and “Snow White,” “No Other Land” has been the 14th-biggest film since its Jan. 31 release, a spokesman said.
And at the Flicks in Boise, Idaho, some prospective moviegoers on Thursday had to be turned away from a sold-out one-off screening in a 192-seat room, said the independent theater’s president.
The unlikely success comes as the film remains in headlines past its Oscar victory and its directors’ acceptance speech, which was defiantly polemical amid a largely apolitical ceremony. Two weeks ago, the mayor of Miami Beach threatened to break a theater’s lease with the city over screening the film (he later backed down). On Monday Israeli authorities detained one of the filmmakers, Hamdan Ballal, along with two other Palestinians on suspicion of throwing stones, which they deny; Ballal was released Tuesday.
The movie’s trajectory can be seen as an encouraging model for other hot-button documentaries and an indication that success is possible even in the face of logistical hurdles, a relative lack of marketing and political controversy.
A successful evening at the Academy Awards helps, too. “This has had the biggest Oscar bounce I’ve seen,” said Gregory Laemmle, who runs a family theater chain largely in Southern California.
Releasing “No Other Land” on their own was not the filmmakers’ original plan. “The intention was to sell it to a distributor,” said Jason Ishikawa, the co-head of sales at the film marketing and sales company Cinetic.
A traditional distributor — giants like Netflix and Disney or midsize players like A24 and Neon — might feature extensive marketing budgets and national campaigns. By contrast, all “No Other Land” advertisements were paid for out of a grant it won, and local theaters found themselves doing their own outreach.
“Filmmakers are not necessarily marketers, they’re not distributors,” Ishikawa said. “They have a vision for who the audience is, but transforming that into a release requires people who have very specific skill sets.”
Initially, “No Other Land” sought to build momentum at prestigious festivals in Telluride, Colo., Toronto and New York in the hope of securing North American distribution. Cinetic booked a one-week commercial run in November at Film at Lincoln Center in Manhattan to qualify the movie for several awards. (A best documentary victory at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2024 made it Oscar-eligible.)
When it became clear that no distributor was going to take the film on, the directors realized they would be better off releasing the movie themselves. Lauren Schwartz, a senior vice president of publicity and promotions at Cinetic, said it was “the most appealing option for the filmmakers at the juncture when that decision had to be made.”
They hired Michael Tuckman, a veteran independent film distributor. “You adjust to what the world is telling you,” Tuckman said in an interview.
In the end, “No Other Land” did have theatrical distribution, just on its own. And it ended up more widely available to be seen than most movies like it. “From my position,” said White, the programmer, “it came to my attention, and I’m working with people I work with all the time.”
For comparison, the fellow Oscar nominee “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” which was acquired by the respected small distributor Kino Lorber, peaked at showing on 20 screens and totaled roughly $350,000 in domestic box office. It is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.
“No Other Land” is not currently available to stream, and Ishikawa said the filmmakers have not made any decisions yet about streaming rights.