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In March of this year, two documentaries examining the aftermath of the 7 October 2023 events arrived in theaters within days of each other. The first, named “October 8”, focused on the “emergence of antisemitism on college campuses, on online platforms and on the public spaces” after militants killed more than 1,200 people in southern Israel, the majority being non-combatants. The film, executive-produced by a well-known actress, was widely released by an independent distribution studio that has also handled a Trump biopic and a documentary on Jamal Khashoggi. Marketing for the film took place on mainstream programs, and it eventually earned more than $1.3 million in the United States, a significant sum for a documentary with political themes.

The other film, The Encampments, faced a tougher road. A documentary on student demonstrations against the retaliatory actions in of the Gaza Strip, focusing in part on activist Mahmoud Khalil – who was later detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for his activism – got no celebrity morning show promotion. Its specialty release at a New York theater led to intimidation attempts, an incident of vandalism in the cinema entrance and social media censorship. That it was able to premiere – and made $80,000 in its debut weekend, a notable achievement for the independent film market – is due to Watermelon Pictures, an emerging, Palestinian-American founded film-financing and -distribution company started by brothers Hamza and Badie Ali to support movies presenting Palestinian views find viewers they otherwise would not, in a industry that has otherwise ignored or deprioritized them.

Is a ‘chilling effect’ preventing Hollywood from tackling controversial documentaries?

These two films evince the distinct environments for Israeli and Palestinian narratives in the United States – the first more unified and often backed by established organizations, the second more fragmented and less organized, yet growing. The second anniversary of the October 7th events throws the contrast into sharper relief – this weekend marks the selective premiere of “The Road Between Us”, a documentary following a retired Israeli general’s mission to rescue his son’s family from Hamas forces on October 7th. A gripping Taken-like tale of survival, trauma and mourning that omits Israel’s subsequent killing of at least 66,000 Palestinians in response, this documentary received support from celebrities and received the audience choice prize for best documentary at a major film festival. US distribution rights were quickly snapped up by a media company.

It is challenging to get any controversial, politically charged movie funded, let alone released in the US, especially under the second Trump administration. But films featuring Palestinian perspectives, or films questioning the dominant story of a authority that has used the tragedies of October 7th into a weapon of war defending an globally condemned humanitarian crisis in Gaza, have found it especially challenging, sometimes impossible, to connect with viewers. “I have never produced a movie on Palestine that’s ever been released,” said one director, the director of a documentary titled “Coexistence, My Ass!”, a documentary about an comedian from Israel confronting her upbringing as “the symbolic figure for the peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians” in the wake of the near-complete destruction of Gaza.

With an acclaimed festival run, the director, who is of Lebanese and Canadian descent, had hopes for a release agreement for their documentary. “We thought that there could be a possibility that Coexistence could break through just based on the subject’s unique perspective – it’s such a novel approach of looking at the situation,” the director said. But agreements fell through; the team ultimately opted for a independent distribution plan starting later this month, handled by the same company that arranged another film’s self-distribution earlier this year. The other movie, a searing documentary by an collaborative group about long-standing struggles to fight against occupation in a small West Bank community, won a bittersweet Oscar for best documentary; weeks later, local settlers severely beat a co-director, who was then arrested by military personnel allegedly mocking the award. It’s still not available for online viewing in the United States but made more than $2.5m at the American theaters (making it the highest grossing of the year’s Oscar-nominated docs).

‘We need to do something’: the company releasing Palestinian films no one else will

Another film, All That’s Left of You, a sweeping epic on multiple generations of a family from Palestine forced from their home in 1948, also looked for a distributor after a strong festival run, but ran into concern from distributors over the “content theme”. “We were optimistic that one mainstream distributor would agree to release it,” said the American-Palestinian filmmaker. A discussion with an undisclosed firm concluded, according to the filmmaker, with a pass, citing an overloaded schedule. “That is precisely what they told another Palestinian film that debuted recently at a festival. It all feels like fear of controversy,” she said.

The truth, according to Watermelon co-founder, is that “very few distributors exist that are going to back Palestinian cinema”. Major streaming companies have steered clear. But a prominent studio recently purchased the international streaming rights to Red Alert, a four-part scripted series partly produced by an Israeli production fund, which depicts the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel that, per the logline, “transformed southern Israel into a conflict area, testing humanity and creating heroes through turmoil”. The studio CEO touted the series as proof of the firm dedication to narrative art through artistic excellence and factual precision”. And a different service acquired the US rights for “One Day in October”, a dramatized show based on eyewitness stories of the incident that will debut on its two-year mark.

At the same time, “I don’t think a solitary Palestinian movie has ever gotten wide release in the United States”, said the filmmaker, who has recently established her own release firm, Visibility Films, in response to the roadblocks. “Nobody has truly been prepared to take a risk on proving that these films could be seen widely.”

“It is regrettable that we haven’t had that same support,” said the founder. “Not a single film has been acquired by a mainstream streamer.” Nevertheless, “the sector is clearly changing”, he said, pointing to the recent pledge signed by more than 3,900 prominent entertainment figures to avoid collaboration with Israeli cinema organizations “implicated in genocide and apartheid” against Palestinians, noting: “But it seems, sadly, like the streamers are not joining this movement.” (Several celebrities were among those who endorsed a criticism calling the pledge a “document of misinformation”; some referenced the country’s Oscar entry of The Sea, a film about a young Palestinian who attempts to go to the beach for the first occasion but is refused access at a checkpoint. Interestingly, Israel’s version of the Oscars is under threat of funding cuts after the film won the top prize.)

A new wave of Palestinian-led, challenging films is finally beginning to crest even without major corporate backing – the distribution company agreed to release All That’s Left of You, Jordan’s official submission to the Oscars, which will begin its limited theatrical release in the coming year; well-known stars joined as executive producers. The company also handles Palestine’s official Oscar submission, generational epic Palestine 36, and is executive producer on another documentary, which drew rave reviews and a major award at Venice; this movie, which recreates the death of a five-year-old girl in the region with her actual recordings, will be released across Europe by a sales company, and has {yet to find|not