Documenting the ongoing destruction of houses and communities in Masafer Yatta, this essential film pierces through an issue that stubbornly cloaks itself in an aura of complexity.

I am quite late getting around to this one, it has already won the Best Documentary after all, but then this is an issue that many of us are less proactive about than we should be. It’s a serious and sombre, and at times overwhelming, watch, but one that sharpens the mind and shatters the heart. Filmed by an Israeli-Palestinian collective, the footage is intimate and shocking, filled with the rage and anger of decades of international neglect.

The film documents the ongoing destruction of Masafer Yatta, a community of villages in the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank, and the persecution of its population. This area in the south of the West Bank was designated by Israel as an IDF “firing zone”, a decision mandated by their supreme court in 2022 after decades of legal battles despite being lived in by Palestinians for centuries. The film is a diary of the cycle of resistance and destruction, of the demolition of Palestinian homes, livelihoods, and communities, and the attempts to rebuild and remain. Basel Adra, a Palestinian born in the region, has been documenting the events since he was a child, and the film is the result of his efforts alongside the Jewish journalist Yuval Abraham. 

The long connection to the region takes this film far beyond the observation of the ongoing conflict. The camera takes on an active role as a tool of resistance, as Basel constantly reminds Israeli soldiers “I’m filming this”, while the existence of the film is only possible because of fraught solidarity across borders between Israelis and Palestinians.

In 2009, Tony Blair visited Masafer Yatta, in the film we see Basel’s father in a shot behind Blair as he walks around the village. He was there visiting a school that had defiantly been rebuilt after it had been destroyed. Blair only spent 7 minutes there, but this was enough for Israel to cancel the demolition of the school. In the film, Basel states: “This is a story about power”. The power of Israel to dictate, terrorise, and destroy the lives of Palestinians. The power of the Palestinians resists in the wreckage and continues to assert their right to live. The power of filmmaking. 

The film avoids discussion of history and barely lets itself imagine the future. Its brilliance is its conviction in piercing through an issue that stubbornly cloaks itself in an aura of complexity when, despite having its complexities, can also be as clear as ice. Innocent, unarmed Palestinian protestors are shot from point-blank range. A school is bulldozed into oblivion as crying children watch on. Israeli settlers armed with rifles shoot at Palestinians as the army stands by. Israeli soldiers confiscate cars, chainsaw water pipes, pour concrete into wells, destroy power lines, and steal building materials. Yes, it’s complex, but also how straightforward does it need to be? 

The film balances the personal story of Basel, the history of his family, and his activism, and his growing relationship with Yuval, with the routine destruction. It swirls these components into a cyclical story that slowly sediments violence into your experience of these people and has the effect of mimicking the way violence has become ordinary for these people. Moments of reflection, on the complicated nature of Yuval Israeliness and his responsibility for his state’s actions, or Basel’s father’s inspiring attitude throughout his life, are predictably punctured by routine demolitions. We must all ask ourselves how violence can become the backdrop to people’s existence.

Currently streaming on Channel 4. 

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