No Other Land director attacked in West Bank

Hamdan Ballal's whereabouts unknown

by Jennie Kermode

No Other Land
No Other Land

Hamdan Ballal, who co-directed Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land with Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra and Rachel Szor, has reportedly disappeared following an assault by a group of 10 to 20 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, where he lives. The incident occurred at around 6pm.

"A group of settlers just lynched Hamdan Ballal, co-director of our film No Other Land," tweeted Abraham, who is also a longstanding friend of the missing man. "They beat him and he has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding. Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called and took him. No sign of him since."

A video has emerged showing Ballal and two Jewish activists being attacked by a masked, stone-throwing mob and seeking refuge in a car, whose windscreen was subsequently broken. According to reports, he was blindfolded before being taken away. The Israeli military has said that it is investigating the incident.

Share this with others on...
News

The serpent's call Composer Stephen Lukach on creating tension and awe in Beware Boiúna

Care and community Mike Leigh and the Tender Loving Care cast on humanity and looking out for one another

The aftermath Jorge Thielen Armand on returning to Venezuela to make Death Has No Master

Making magic Gregg Bishop on witches, inspiring actors, instinctive filmmaking and The Heretiks

The road to The Guests Cristina Diz and Stefan Butzmühlen on working together on their latest film

Beyond Saturn Tina Gharavi, Tala Calil and Assaad Bouab on Shadows Of Beirut

Puppy love Brad Pitt on the 'moving' Heart Of The Beast shoot thanks to furry co-star Odin

More news and features

Interact

Don't forget that you can follow us on YouTube for trailers of festival films and more. You can also find us on Mastodon and Bluesky.


It's a busy time for festivals and here's the latest:


San Sebastian Golden night for Tender Loving Care


Toronto La Bola Negra wins People's Choice award


San Sebastian Naomi Watts dedicates Donostia Award to Lynch


San Sebastian Werner Herzog honoured


Dinard Full programme announced


LFF Full programme announced