Doc Talk Podcast: Latest On ‘No Other Land,’ Plus A New Film On The AUM Cult Behind A Deadly Sarin Gas Attack

deadline.com:

It’s been a day of dramatic developments for No Other Land, the Oscar-winning documentary about life for Palestinian residents in the rural West Bank area of Yasafer Matta.

Hamdan Ballal, one of the two Palestinian filmmakers who joined two Israeli directors to make the film, was released from custody by Israeli authorities Tuesday after prominent members of the documentary community, including Alex Gibney and Maite Alberdi, demanded his release (so did Oscar-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo).

Israeli police held Ballal overnight after questioning him and two other Palestinians for allegedly throwing stones at Israeli settlers in the West Bank and “endangering regional security.” Ballal and two of his fellow directors – Palestinian Basel Adra and Israeli Yuval Abraham – suggested the authorities were offering a false narrative and that it was Ballal who came under attack from masked Israeli settlers.

Ballal told the Associated Press that he was detained at an army base overnight and blindfolded, after being assaulted by a group of settlers outside his home.  RELATED: Oscar Winners & Hundreds Of Others Decry Threat To Close Miami Beach Theater For Showing ‘No Other Land’: “Attack On Freedom Of Expression & First Amendment” “All my body is pain,” he told the AP. “I heard the voices of the soldiers; they were laughing about me. … I heard ‘Oscar,’ but I didn’t speak Hebrew.” Winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature on March 2 seemingly has raised tensions surrounding No Other Land.