Floorless cinema describes Israeli’s aggressions: ‘Worst moment of my life’hamdan Ballal, who directed the documentary about Israeli’s violence against Palestinians, was kidnapped and assaulted in March days after winning the Oscarpher

Hamdan BallalPalestinian Director of the acclaimed documentary Groundless (No other land), published a new text after being kidnapped and beaten by Israeli settlers in March, days after winning the Oscar.

Ball He offered a detailed account of the distressing experience, which he called “the worst moment of my life,” in an opinion article in the newspaper The New York Times. “I could hear my wife and children screaming and crying, calling me and telling men to go away,” he wrote

We thought I would be killed. We feared what would happen to my family if I died. “

The attack took place on March 24 in Susiya village. Ball He said it was a “typical night of Ramadan” before a neighbor raised the alarm over a settlement of settlers. The filmmaker said he first tried to “document the moment”, but when he saw the crowd growing, he returned home.

Seeing a settler and “two soldiers” approaching him, he asked his wife and children to enter the house and not open the door. Ball He said he “recognized men” and when they confronted him outside, they started “beating me and cursing me, mocking me as the” winning filmmaker of Oscar‘. “The director stated that a gun was pushed against his ribs and someone” punched me in the head from behind. “

On the floor, the aggressions continued: “I was kicked and spit.” After being beaten, he was “handcuffed, blindfolded, and thrown into an Army pickup truck. For hours, I was blindfolded on the floor of what then knew how to be a military base, fearing that I would be kept long and repeatedly beaten. I was released a day later.”

Although the attack was “brutal”, Ball He emphasized that he was not the only target. He noted that, just a few days later, “dozens of settlers, many of them masked,” attacked Jinba’s neighboring village, leading to five hospitalizations and 20 prisons. After that, the filmmaker said the army “invaded the village and turned houses, the mosque and the school.”

The Israeli military claimed that the attack on Susiya was a “violent confrontation [que] He broke out, involving mutual stones exchange between Palestinians and Israelis on the spot. Israeli police forces arrived to disperse the confrontation; At this point, several terrorists began to throw stones at security forces. “However, many witnesses contest the claim of any confrontation.

Ball contrasted the fear and pain he felt on March 24 with the feeling of “power and possibility” that he had experienced three weeks earlier on the stage of Oscar. “My heart was broken by disappointment. For the feeling of failure,” he said.

Although our film has received global recognition, I felt that I failed – we failed – in our attempt to improve the lives of Palestinians. To convince the world that something needed to change. My life is still at the mercy of the settlers and the Israeli occupation. My community still suffers from endless violence. Our movie won a OscarBut our lives are no better than before. “

Even so, he acknowledged that the victory in the ceremony brought significant press attention to the attack. “The messages and voices of support around the world were overwhelming. I know there are thousands and thousands of people who now know my name and my story, who know the name of my community and our history, who are with us and support us. Don’t move away now.”

The result of a collaboration between Palestinians and Israelis, Groundless was co-directed by the filmmaker next to BASEL ADRA, YUVAL ABRAHAM and Rachel Shore. The film was made between 2019 and 2023 and documents the violent treatment of Israel to Palestinians in West Bank, with a particular focus on Massager Yatta, where both Adra as BALLAL LIVE.

Despite the difficulties of finding distribution in the US, the film received widely acclaimed criticism before winning as Best Documentary node Oscar 2025. After the attack, the Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences released a warm statement that did not mention the attack or quoted Ball or Groundless By name, but condemned “the suppression of artists for their work.”

After widespread criticism and an open letter signed by several famous actors, the Academy He published an equally warm apology: “We regret not being able to directly recognize Mr. Ball and the movie by name. “

In Brazil, GroundlessIt is available for purchase or rent on YouTube and also at streaming prime video and Apple TV services.

Article published on April 25, 2025 at Rolling Stone. To read the original in English, Click here.

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