When "No Other Land" won the 2025 Oscar for best documentary, the victory should have ensured worldwide release. Instead, the film — about the forced displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank — failed to secure a US distributor. The filmmakers, a collective of Israeli and Palestinian activists, eventually self-released. US screenings faced protests and political pushback, but the movie played to sold-out houses and had earned over $2 million (€1.7 million) at the box office by the end of March. A young man lies in a hilly landscape, a bulldozer can be seen in the background.A young man lies in a hilly landscape, a bulldozer can be seen in the background. "'No Other Land" documents destruction and displacement in the West BankImage: TFS/Capital Pictures/IMAGO Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania has run into similar barriers with "The Voice of Hind Rajab," a dramatization of the true story of a 5-year-old girl killed in Gaza by Israeli forces and the desperate attempt by Red Crescent emergency workers to save her. The film drew a 24-minute standing ovation in Venice and won the festival's Silver Lion. It also has celebrity backing, with Brad Pitt and Joaquin Phoenix signing on as executive producers to promote the movie. "I have no political power. I'm not an activist. I have one tool that I know, that I master a little bit — cinema," says Ben Hania. "And at least in making this movie, I wasn't silenced." As of this writing, no US or German distributor has come on board to release "The Voice of Hind Rajab." Film still from 'The Voice of Hind Raja': A man shows a picture of a young girl.Film still from 'The Voice of Hind Raja': A man shows a picture of a young girl. "The Voice of Hind Rajab" won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize in VeniceImage: Mime Films/Tanit Films/AP Photo/picture alliance "There aren't a lot of distributors willing to take risks on these films, because they are political, and they do take a stance," says Hamza Ali, co-founder of Watermelon Pictures, a US distribution company that has released Gaza-themed documentaries "From Ground Zero" and "The Encampments." With bigger companies unwilling to step up, Watermelon has come on board to release two big new Palestinian films: Annemarie Jacir's historical drama "Palestine 36," the country's Oscar submission, and Cherien Dabis' Sundance hit "All That's Left of You," a multi-generational Palestinian drama that is Jordan's official Oscar contender. Pressure on Israeli filmmakers It isn't just Palestinian stories that get pushback. At this year's Toronto International Film Festival, Barry Avrich's Israeli documentary "The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue," about a retired general who set out to rescue his family from a kibbutz after it was raided by Hamas on October 7, 2023, was initially pulled from the lineup before being reinstated following protests. It went on to win the festival's People's Choice Award.