The filmmakers behind the Oscar-winning Palestinian documentary “No Different Land” spent their many months on the awards circuit calling out American distributors for being unwilling to supply the movie a U.S. theatrical distribution deal, telling IndieWire final November that “distributors are afraid to interact with the subject of Israel and Palestine.”
Since being launched theatrically independently and profitable the Oscar, the movie is now lastly being made obtainable on streaming. The filmmakers have chosen to once more launch the film independently, making it obtainable for on-demand digital buy and rental by way of Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, and YouTube, as they introduced on Instagram earlier right this moment. However, because it seems, “No Different Land” did have curiosity from a significant U.S. distributor to launch the movie by way of SVOD streaming, however the filmmakers “rejected” the supply.
That distributor was MUBI, and in a press launch, co-directors Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham mentioned they in the end turned down the deal over the long-running controversy regarding MUBI’s $100 million funding from Sequoia Capital.
“This movie reveals the fact of Israeli occupation and oppression towards Palestinians — however that fact apparently didn’t match the narrative that large U.S. streamers needed to advertise. We talked to MUBI for months, and initially thought our movie had discovered its house, however ultimately we discovered that they had been accepting an enormous funding from Sequoia Capital,” Adra mentioned in a press release.
“Along with being unethical, it made no sense to us that they’d take our movie exhibiting Israel’s oppression of Palestinians, after which additionally associate with an organization contributing to that oppression,” Abraham added.
MUBI declined to remark when reached by IndieWire.
MUBI secured a $100 million funding from Sequoia Capital in Could 2024, at which level backlash slowly grew over the truth that, along with MUBI (and quite a few different tech corporations and investments), Sequoia had additionally invested in Israeli army tech start-up Kela. The beginning-up was based by Israeli intelligence veterans in 2024 following the October 7 terrorist assaults, in addition to two different Israeli protection corporations.
Since that funding grew to become public, filmmakers and even staff internally have referred to as on MUBI to return the funding and accused the artwork home streamer and distributor of being complicit with genocide in Palestine.
In August, CEO Efe Cakarel put out a prolonged assertion stressing that Sequoia is merely a minority investor with out oversight over programming, editorial, or monetary choices; that Cakarel stays the bulk shareholder in MUBI; and that any assertion that MUBI’s earnings would go to fund different corporations in Sequoia’s portfolio had been unfaithful. It additionally clarified that Sequoia associate Shaun Maguire, who got here underneath hearth for Islamaphobic social media posts, had no involvement with MUBI operationally or strategically. The corporate additionally put in place an “Moral Funding and Funding Coverage” about establishing standards for future investments.
However the notion and backlash has endured. Final month, a Los Angeles movie competition dropped MUBI as a presenting sponsor over the controversy, and the “No Different Land” information is the newest instance.
Although technically launched with out assistance from a proper distributor, “No Different Land” had a prolonged theatrical run, thanks to help from different unbiased exhibition companions, and the film has since made $3.6 million worldwide on the field workplace, making it one of many higher-grossing documentaries of the 12 months.
Adra wrote a visitor column for IndieWire again in February in regards to the disaster nonetheless happening in Masafer Yatta. A co-director on the movie, Hamdan Ballal, was attacked and arrested again in March. In September, Adra revealed that his house within the West Financial institution was raided by the IDF. And two months in the past, a collaborator on “No Different Land,” Awdah Hathaleen, was killed within the battle.
