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This past March, two documentaries examining the consequences of the 7 October 2023 events reached theaters within days of each other. The first, named October 8, centered on the “rise in antisemitism” on college campuses, on social media and on the streets” after militants took the lives of over 1,200 individuals in southern Israel, most of them civilians. The film, produced by a well-known actress, was widely released by an maverick film company that has also handled a Trump biopic and a Jamal Khashoggi documentary. Promotion for the film occurred on popular TV shows, and it ultimately earned more than $1.3 million domestically, a significant sum for a political documentary.

The other film, The Encampments, encountered greater obstacles. This film examines campus protests against the retaliatory actions in of Gaza, partly centered on activist a key figure – who was later taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for his advocacy – received no support from famous TV hosts. Its specialty release at a New York theater led to intimidation attempts, an incident of vandalism in the theater’s lobby and removal of ads online. That it was released at all – and earned $80,000 in its debut weekend, a significant win for the independent film market – is due to a new distribution company, an emerging, Palestinian American-led film-financing and -distribution company founded by brothers Hamza and Badie Ali to help films with Palestinian perspectives reach audiences they otherwise would not, in a industry that has historically overlooked or marginalized such stories.

‘A chilling effect’: is Hollywood too scared to touch hot-button documentaries?

These two films evince the different landscapes for stories from Israel and Palestine in the US – the first more unified and often backed by more mainstream institutions, the other fractured and less organized, yet growing. The second anniversary of the 7 October attacks throws the contrast into sharper relief – this weekend marks the limited release of The Road Between Us, a non-fiction film following a former Israeli military leader’s mission to rescue his family members from Hamas forces on October 7th. A gripping Taken-like tale of survival, trauma and mourning that does not mention the subsequent fatalities of at least 66,000 Palestinians in retaliation, this documentary received support from well-known figures and received the audience choice prize for top documentary at a major film festival. US distribution rights were rapidly acquired by a media company.

It’s difficult to get any controversial, politically charged movie financed, let alone released in the US, especially under the current political climate. But movies presenting Palestinian viewpoints, or films challenging the narrative of a government that has turned the horrors of October 7th into a tool for conflict justifying an internationally recognized genocide in the region, have found it particularly difficult, sometimes impossible, to connect with viewers. “I’ve never made a film about Palestine that’s ever been distributed,” said a filmmaker, the director of Coexistence, My Ass!, a film about an comedian from Israel reexamining her past as “the literal poster child for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process” in the aftermath of the near-complete destruction of Gaza.

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 possibility that the film could break through just based on the subject’s unique perspective – it’s such a novel approach of looking at the situation,” the creator said. But agreements fell through; the team ultimately opted for a independent distribution plan starting later this month, handled by the same company that orchestrated another film’s self-distribution recently. The other movie, a powerful non-fiction work by an Israeli-Palestinian collective about generational efforts to resist occupation in a Palestinian village, won a Oscar award under difficult circumstances for best documentary; weeks later, Israeli settlers severely beat a film-maker, who was then arrested by soldiers reportedly ridiculing the award. It’s still not available for streaming in the US but made more than $2.5m at the American theaters (making it the top-earning of the Oscar-nominated documentaries this year).

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

A separate movie, All That’s Left of You, a sweeping epic on multiple generations of a family from Palestine forced from their home in 1948, also sought distribution after a successful festival appearances, but faced hesitation from distribution companies over the “subject matter”. “We had high hopes 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 film festival. It seems like political cowardice,” she said.

The reality, 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 acquired the international streaming rights to a series called “Red Alert”, a four-part scripted series produced in part by an Israeli production fund, which depicts the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel that, according to the description, “transformed southern Israel into a conflict area, testing humanity and creating heroes through chaos”. The studio CEO touted the series as evidence of the company’s “continued commitment to storytelling through creative quality and factual precision”. And a different service acquired the American rights for One Day in October, a scripted series inspired by first-hand accounts of the incident that will debut on its second anniversary.

At the same time, “I believe a single Palestinian film has ever gotten mainstream distribution in the US”, said the filmmaker, who has recently established her own release firm, Visibility Films, in wake of the roadblocks. “No one’s really been willing to take a risk on demonstrating that these movies can attract broad audiences.”

“It is regrettable that we haven’t had that same support,” said the founder. “None of our movies has been picked up by a mainstream streamer.” Still, “the industry is definitely shifting”, he said, referencing the recent pledge signed by more than 3,900 influential industry personalities to not work with Israeli film institutions “associated with severe human rights issues” against Palestinians, adding: “But it seems, unfortunately, like the streamers are not joining this movement.” (A number of famous individuals were among those who endorsed a criticism calling the pledge a “document of misinformation”; some referenced Israel’s Oscar submission 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. Notably, the national film awards is under threat of funding cuts after The Sea received the highest honor.)

A new wave of films led by Palestinians and addressing difficult topics is starting to gain momentum even without major corporate backing – the distribution company agreed to release the aforementioned epic, Jordan’s official submission to the Academy Awards, which will begin its limited theatrical release in January; well-known stars came on board as producers. Watermelon also handles Palestine’s official Oscar submission, generational epic “Palestine 36”, and is a producer on another documentary, which received critical acclaim and a significant prize at Venice; this movie, which recreates the death of a five-year-old girl in the region with her actual recordings, will be distributed in Europe by a distribution partner, and has {yet to find|not