The crowd response to No Other Land’s Academy Award win is being called out on social media, with some saying it speaks volumes as to Hollywood’s thoughts on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
For context, No Other Land recently took home the trophy for Best Documentary Feature at the 97th Academy Awards, beating out the likes of Sugarcane, Black Box Diaries, Porcelain War, and Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat. The film was made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective, and focuses on the Israeli displacement of a Palestinian community over the course of four years.
During his acceptance speech, No Other Land’s co-director Yuval Abraham used the moment to draw attention to the current Palestinian plight, and call for an end to “the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people.” In the wake of Donald Trump’s nightmarish plans for Gaza, Abraham went on to specifically call out the foreign policy of the U.S., saying it is “helping to block [the] path” towards a “political solution… without ethnic supremacy.”
"No Other Land" director Basel Adra: "We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people." | #Oscars pic.twitter.com/NzoqLKiBSJ
— Variety (@Variety) March 3, 2025
While the rousing speech was met with applause by some Oscar attendees, footage of the crowd’s reaction has been divisive, with one Reddit claiming that it “seems quite a few people remained seated” when No Other Land was announced as the winner. Many other s agreed with this sentiment, with one saying the clip is evidence that there was “a lot of trash in the room” on Oscar night.
Elsewhere, Redditors demanded a list of “all the people who sat down” during the announcement of the winner so they could “avoid watching all their movies,” or argued that the lack of audience enthusiasm goes against the themes of No Other Land. “It’s about a bond between an Israeli and a Palestinian,” one surmised of the documentary, “if you can’t get behind people trying to make peace, idk what’s wrong with you.” Others lamented how it seemed like some audience “couldn’t even be bothered to clap.”
On the opposing side, some Redditors suggested that perhaps those who remained seated simply hadn’t seen the film, or took time to praise some of the celebrities who did stand up to celebrate No Other Land. “Guy Pearce is a class act,” one wrote, in reference to the Oscar-nominee’s visible excitement at the film’s win, adding “protect him at all costs.” John Lithgow was also seen giving a standing ovation to No Other Land, and so too were Anora director Sean Baker, and A Real Pain star Jesse Eisenberg.
The win for No Other Land comes soon after Trump shared a widely condemned AI-generated video of his supposed vision for Gaza. The clip featured a large golden statue of Trump and snippets of Elon Musk, and adds to a broader Israel-Palestine policy that many have claimed is a form of ethnic cleansing. No Other Land ed a list of fellow top prize-getters at yesterday’s Oscars, including Anora for Best Picture, Mikey Madison for Best Actress, and Adrien Brody for Best Actor.
In other Oscar news, hilarious turn as the announcer of the ceremony.
Published: Mar 3, 2025 07:05 pm