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In March of this year, a pair of non-fiction films examining the consequences of the October 7th, 2023 events reached theaters within days of each other. The first, named October 8, centered on the “emergence of antisemitism on college campuses, on online platforms and on the streets” after Hamas forces took the lives of over 1,200 individuals in southern Israel, most of them civilians. This documentary, executive-produced by a prominent celebrity, was broadly distributed by an maverick distribution studio that has also managed a film about Donald Trump and a documentary on Jamal Khashoggi. Marketing for the film occurred on popular TV shows, and it ultimately grossed more than $1.3m in the United States, a high total for a political documentary.

Meanwhile, the second documentary, The Encampments, encountered greater obstacles. A documentary on campus protests against Israel’s retaliatory destruction of Gaza, partly centered on activist a key figure – who was later taken into custody by federal authorities for his advocacy – got no celebrity morning show promotion. Its limited theatrical run at a NYC cinema led to threats of violence, an act of property damage 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 a new distribution company, an upstart, Palestinian American-led film funding and release firm founded by siblings the Ali brothers to help films with Palestinian perspectives reach audiences they otherwise would not, in a market that has otherwise ignored or deprioritized them.

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

The two documentaries evince the distinct environments for stories from Israel and Palestine in the United States – one concentrated and frequently supported by established organizations, the second more fragmented and less organized, yet expanding. The two-year anniversary of the 7 October attacks highlights this disparity even more – recently saw the selective premiere of The Road Between Us, a documentary tracking a former Israeli military leader’s mission to rescue his family members from militants on 7 October. A compelling Taken-like tale of endurance, pain and grief that does not mention the subsequent fatalities of at least 66,000 people in Gaza in retaliation, this documentary received endorsement from celebrities and received the People’s Choice Award for top documentary at a major film festival. American release rights were rapidly acquired by a media company.

It’s difficult to get any hot-button, politically challenging film funded, let alone released in the US, particularly during the second Trump administration. But films featuring Palestinian perspectives, or films questioning the dominant story of a authority that has used the tragedies of 7 October into a tool for conflict justifying an globally condemned humanitarian crisis in the region, have found it especially challenging, sometimes impossible, to reach audiences. “I have never produced a film about Palestine that’s ever been released,” said one director, the creator behind 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 widespread devastation of the territory.

After a successful festival circuit, the filmmaker, who is Lebanese Canadian, had aspirations for a release agreement for Coexistence, My Ass!. “We believed that there could be a chance that the film could break through just based on the subject’s distinct outlook – it’s such a unique way of examining the issue,” the director said. But agreements fell through; the production group ultimately opted for a independent distribution plan beginning soon, managed by the identical firm that orchestrated another film’s self-release recently. The other movie, a searing documentary by an Israeli-Palestinian collective about long-standing struggles to resist occupation in a Palestinian village, won a Oscar award under difficult circumstances for best documentary; weeks later, Israeli settlers violently attacked a co-director, who was then detained by military personnel allegedly mocking the award. It’s still not available for streaming in the US but earned over $2.5 million at the US box office (making it the top-earning of the year’s Oscar-nominated docs).

‘We must act’: The firm distributing Palestinian films others avoid

A separate movie, All That’s Left of You, a sweeping epic on three generations of a Palestinian family forced from their home in 1948, also looked for a distributor after a successful festival appearances, but ran into concern from distribution companies over the “content theme”. “We were optimistic that one mainstream distributor would agree to release it,” said the American-Palestinian filmmaker. One conversation with an unnamed company concluded, according to the filmmaker, with a rejection, citing too many films. “That’s exactly what they said to another Palestinian movie 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 support Palestinian films”. Large streaming platforms have avoided involvement. But one studio recently purchased the global streaming rights to a series called “Red Alert”, a four-part scripted series partly produced by an Israeli production fund, which portrays the October 7th events on Israel that, according to the description, “transformed southern Israel into a conflict area, challenging human decency and forging heroism through turmoil”. The studio CEO promoted the show as evidence of the firm dedication to narrative art through artistic excellence and factual precision”. And another platform acquired the American rights for “One Day in October”, a dramatized show based on first-hand accounts of the incident that will debut on its second anniversary.

At the same time, “I don’t think a solitary Palestinian movie has ever gotten mainstream distribution in the US”, said the filmmaker, who has since formed her own distribution company, Visibility Films, in response to the roadblocks. “Nobody has truly been prepared to assume the chance on demonstrating that these movies can attract broad audiences.”

“It’s unfortunate that we have not received that equivalent backing,” said the founder. “Not a single film has been picked up by a mainstream streamer.” Still, “the industry is definitely shifting”, he said, pointing to the recent commitment signed by more than 3,900 prominent entertainment figures to not work with Israeli film institutions “implicated in genocide and apartheid” against Palestinians, adding: “However, it appears, unfortunately, like the streamers are not joining this movement.” (Several celebrities were among those who endorsed a criticism labeling the commitment a “document of misinformation”; several cited Israel’s Oscar submission of The Sea, a film about a Palestinian boy who attempts to go to the beach for the first time but is refused access at a security post. Interestingly, Israel’s version of the Oscars is facing government defunding after the film received the highest honor.)

An emerging trend of Palestinian-led, challenging films is starting to gain momentum even without significant corporate support – the distribution company agreed to release the aforementioned epic, the official entry from Jordan to the Oscars, which will begin its limited theatrical release in the coming year; prominent actors joined as executive producers. Watermelon also represents the Palestinian entry for the Oscars, generational epic “Palestine 36”, and is executive producer on The Voice of Hind Rajab, which drew rave reviews and a significant prize at the Venice Film Festival; that film, which recreates the death of a young child in the region with her actual recordings, will be distributed in Europe by a distribution partner, and has {yet to find|not