‘No Other Land’ Is Now the Highest-Grossing Documentary Nominated for This Year’s Oscar – Without U.S. Distribution

A documentary called ‘No Other Land’ has done something pretty amazing. It’s now the highest-grossing film among this year’s Oscar-nominated documentaries, pulling in close to $420,000 at the box office. What makes this even wilder is that it doesn’t have a U.S. distributor backing it. That’s right—no big company has stepped up to get it into theaters across the States, yet it’s still outpacing its competition.
The film dives into the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, focusing on a place called Masafer Yatta in the West Bank. It follows Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist, and Yuval Abraham, an Israeli journalist, as they document the destruction of homes by Israeli forces. This isn’t some polished Hollywood production—it’s raw, real footage shot between 2019 and 2023 by a team of four filmmakers, including Adra, Abraham, Rachel Szor, and Hamdan Ballal. Their work shows the harsh reality of displacement, and it’s clearly striking a chord with audiences.
So how does a movie like this make so much money without a distributor? Well, according to IndieWire, the team took matters into their own hands. They started showing ‘No Other Land’ in theaters independently, kicking things off in late January at New York City’s Film Forum. That first week alone brought in about $26,000. Since then, it’s grown to play on more screens—jumping from 54 to 83 in just a few days around the Oscars. People are showing up in droves, with sold-out screenings proving there’s a hunger for this story.
Compare that to the other Oscar nominees, and the gap is clear. ‘Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat’ sits at $320,530, while ‘Porcelain War’ has earned $215,826. Then there’s ‘Sugarcane’ with $112,251, and ‘Black Box Diaries’ trailing at just $33,228 worldwide. All of those films have U.S. distributors like Kino Lorber or MTV Documentary Films pushing them. ‘No Other Land’ doesn’t, yet it’s leaving them in the dust.
Why hasn’t a big distributor picked it up? The topic might be part of it. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is heavy, and some companies might not want to touch it. But the filmmakers aren’t waiting around. They’ve built a grassroots push, getting the film into nearly 100 theaters on their own. And it’s not just about the money—it’s already won awards, like the Berlinale Documentary Award, showing it’s got critical weight too.
I can’t help but think this says something about what people want to see. We’re drawn to stories that cut through the noise, even if they’re tough to watch. ‘No Other Land’ isn’t sugarcoating anything, and maybe that’s why it’s doing so well. It’s a film that’s forcing its way into the conversation, with or without a big studio behind it.
The Oscars are coming up fast—March 2, to be exact—and this documentary’s already got a spotlight on it. Will its box office success and buzz carry it to a win? Hard to say. But one thing’s for sure: ‘No Other Land’ is proving it doesn’t need a traditional path to make an impact. It’s out there, breaking records, and showing that a good story can find its audience no matter what.