\n<\/p>\n
\u201cNo Other Land\u201d has racked up festival awards, critical acclaim and the Oscar for best documentary feature. Yet the film, a narrative expos\u00e9 about Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes directed by two Palestinians and two Israelis, has not been acquired by a traditional North American distributor. This is partly a reflection of the collapse<\/a> of studio interest in newsy documentaries as well as hesitance around a movie that condemns Israeli policies.<\/p>\n But as the filmmakers rolled out the movie without the marketing muscle and prestige of a typical release, it has flourished. By the admittedly parched standards of post-pandemic theatrical releases of topical documentaries, it is a hit.<\/p>\n \u201cNo Other Land\u201d has been a top 25 film each of the past three weeks since its Oscar win, according to the film database Box Office Mojo, with ticket sales set to eclipse $2 million domestically by the end of next weekend. It was playing on 130 screens across the country last weekend, a small number when compared to the thousands of a studio blockbuster, but robust given its circumstances. (The film\u2019s theatrical rights have been acquired in more than 20 other countries.)<\/p>\n \u201cDocumentaries are having a harder time theatrically these days,\u201d said Connie White, who has programmed \u201cNo Other Land\u201d at a dozen theaters from Brookline, Mass., and Pleasantville, N.Y., to Tucson, Ariz., and Omaha. \u201cThis is remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n At Film Forum in Manhattan, \u201cNo Other Land\u201d sold out seven shows its opening weekend in February and a week\u2019s worth of evening screenings after its Oscar win. It \u201cis shaping up to be among the highest-attended films in our 55-year history,\u201d said Sonya Chung, the cinema\u2019s president and director.<\/p>\n At the national Alamo Drafthouse chain, which screens studio tentpoles like \u201cCaptain America: Brave New World\u201d and \u201cSnow White,\u201d \u201cNo Other Land\u201d has been the 14th-biggest film since its Jan. 31 release, a spokesman said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n And at the Flicks in Boise, Idaho, some prospective moviegoers on Thursday had to be turned away from a sold-out one-off screening in a 192-seat room, said the independent theater\u2019s president.<\/p>\n The unlikely success comes as the film remains in headlines past its Oscar victory and its directors\u2019 acceptance speech<\/a>, which was defiantly polemical amid a largely apolitical ceremony. Two weeks ago, the mayor of Miami Beach threatened to break a theater\u2019s lease with the city over screening the film (he later backed down<\/a>). On Monday Israeli authorities detained<\/a> one of the filmmakers, Hamdan Ballal, along with two other Palestinians on suspicion of throwing stones, which they deny; Ballal was released Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The movie\u2019s trajectory can be seen as an encouraging model for other hot-button documentaries and an indication that success is possible even in the face of logistical hurdles, a relative lack of marketing and political controversy.<\/p>\n A successful evening<\/a> at the Academy Awards helps, too. \u201cThis has had the biggest Oscar bounce I\u2019ve seen,\u201d said Gregory Laemmle, who runs a family theater chain largely in Southern California.<\/p>\n Releasing \u201cNo Other Land\u201d on their own was not the filmmakers\u2019 original plan. \u201cThe intention was to sell it to a distributor,\u201d said Jason Ishikawa, the co-head of sales at the film marketing and sales company Cinetic.<\/p>\n A traditional distributor \u2014 giants like Netflix and Disney or midsize players like A24 and Neon \u2014 might feature extensive marketing budgets and national campaigns. By contrast, all \u201cNo Other Land\u201d advertisements were paid for out of a grant it won, and local theaters found themselves doing their own outreach.<\/p>\n \u201cFilmmakers are not necessarily marketers, they\u2019re not distributors,\u201d Ishikawa said. \u201cThey have a vision for who the audience is, but transforming that into a release requires people who have very specific skill sets.\u201d<\/p>\n Initially, \u201cNo Other Land\u201d sought to build momentum at prestigious festivals in Telluride, Colo., Toronto and New York in the hope of securing North American distribution. Cinetic booked a one-week commercial run in November at Film at Lincoln Center in Manhattan to qualify the movie for several awards. (A best documentary victory at the Berlin International Film Festival<\/a> in February 2024 made it Oscar-eligible.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When it became clear that no distributor was going to take the film on, the directors realized they would be better off releasing the movie themselves. Lauren Schwartz, a senior vice president of publicity and promotions at Cinetic, said it was \u201cthe most appealing option for the filmmakers at the juncture when that decision had to be made.\u201d<\/p>\n They hired Michael Tuckman, a veteran independent film distributor. \u201cYou adjust to what the world is telling you,\u201d Tuckman said in an interview.<\/p>\n In the end, \u201cNo Other Land\u201d did have theatrical distribution, just on its own. And it ended up more widely available to be seen than most movies like it. \u201cFrom my position,\u201d said White, the programmer, \u201cit came to my attention, and I\u2019m working with people I work with all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n