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In March of this year, a pair of non-fiction films exploring the aftermath 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 online platforms and on the streets” after Hamas forces killed more than 1,200 people in Israel’s southern region, the majority being non-combatants. The film, 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 mainstream programs, and it ultimately earned more than $1.3m in the United States, a high total for a documentary with political themes.

The other film, “The Encampments”, faced a tougher road. A documentary on campus protests against the retaliatory actions in of the Gaza Strip, focusing in part on activist Mahmoud Khalil – who was later taken into custody by federal authorities for his advocacy – received no support from famous TV hosts. Its limited theatrical run 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 able to premiere – and made $80,000 in its debut weekend, a significant win for the independent film market – is thanks to Watermelon Pictures, an upstart, Palestinian American-led film funding and release firm founded by brothers Hamza and Badie Ali to support movies presenting Palestinian views find viewers they otherwise would not, in a market that has otherwise ignored or deprioritized them.

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

These two films demonstrate the different landscapes for stories from Israel and Palestine in the US – one concentrated and often backed by established organizations, the other fractured and less organized, yet expanding. The two-year anniversary of the October 7th events throws the contrast into sharper relief – recently saw the selective premiere of “The Road Between Us”, a non-fiction film tracking a former Israeli military leader’s efforts to save his son’s family from militants on 7 October. A compelling thriller-like story of survival, trauma and mourning that does not mention the subsequent fatalities of at least 66,000 people in Gaza in response, The Road Between Us received endorsement from well-known figures and received the audience choice prize for best documentary at a prestigious cinema event. American release rights were rapidly acquired by a media company.

It is challenging to get any controversial, politically charged movie financed, let alone released in the United States, especially under the second Trump administration. But films featuring Palestinian perspectives, or films questioning the dominant story of a government that has turned the horrors of October 7th into a tool for conflict justifying an globally condemned humanitarian crisis in the region, have found it particularly difficult, sometimes impossible, to connect with viewers. “I’ve never made a movie on Palestine that’s ever been released,” said one director, the creator behind a documentary titled “Coexistence, My Ass!”, a documentary about an comedian from Israel reexamining her past as “the symbolic figure for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process” in the aftermath of the widespread devastation of Gaza.

With an acclaimed festival run, the filmmaker, who is of Lebanese and Canadian descent, had hopes for a distribution deal for their documentary. “We believed that there could be a possibility that Coexistence could succeed just based on the subject’s unique perspective – it’s such a unique way of looking at the situation,” the creator said. But deals never worked out; the team ultimately opted for a independent distribution plan starting later this month, handled by the same company that orchestrated a previous documentary’s self-release earlier this year. That film, a powerful non-fiction work by an collaborative group about generational efforts to fight against occupation in a Palestinian village, won a Oscar award under difficult circumstances for best documentary; shortly after, local settlers violently attacked a co-director, who was then arrested by soldiers reportedly ridiculing 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 highest grossing of the Oscar-nominated documentaries this year).

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

Another film, All That’s Left of You, a grand narrative on three generations of a family from Palestine 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 “subject matter”. “We were optimistic that a major distributor would come through,” said the American-Palestinian filmmaker. A discussion with an undisclosed firm ended, according to the filmmaker, with a pass, referencing an overloaded schedule. “That is precisely what they told another Palestinian film that more recently premiered at a festival. It seems 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”. Large streaming platforms have avoided involvement. But a prominent studio recently purchased the global streaming rights to Red Alert, a four-part scripted series partly produced by an Israeli fund, which depicts the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel that, per the logline, “transformed southern Israel into a conflict area, testing humanity and forging heroism through turmoil”. The studio CEO promoted the show as evidence of the company’s “continued commitment to narrative art through artistic excellence and factual precision”. And a different service acquired the American rights for “One Day in October”, a scripted series inspired by eyewitness stories of the incident that will premiere on its second anniversary.

At the same time, “I don’t think a single Palestinian film has ever gotten wide release in the US”, said the filmmaker, who has since formed her own distribution company, a new company, 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 have not received that same support,” said the co-founder. “Not a single film has been acquired by a major streaming service.” Still, “the industry is definitely shifting”, he said, referencing the recent commitment signed by over 3,900 prominent entertainment figures to avoid collaboration with Israeli film institutions “implicated in genocide and apartheid” against the Palestinian people, noting: “But it seems, unfortunately, like the streamers are not following suit.” (Several celebrities were among those who signed a rebuke calling the pledge a “source of falsehoods”; some referenced the country’s Oscar entry of a film titled “The Sea”, a movie concerning a young Palestinian who attempts to go to the beach for the first time but is denied entry at a checkpoint. Notably, Israel’s version of the Oscars is under threat of funding cuts after The Sea received the highest honor.)

A new wave of Palestinian-led, challenging films is starting to gain momentum even without major corporate backing – Watermelon agreed to release All That’s Left of You, the official entry from Jordan to the Academy Awards, which will start its selective cinema run in January; well-known stars came on board as producers. Watermelon also handles the Palestinian entry for the Oscars, multi-generational story “Palestine 36”, and is executive producer on The Voice of Hind Rajab, which drew rave reviews and a major award at the Venice Film Festival; this movie, which recreates the death of a five-year-old girl in Gaza with her real voice, will be distributed in Europe by a distribution partner, and has {yet to find|not