Hamdan Ballal, one of the Palestinian co-directors of Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, has been freed after being detained and beaten, according to the documentary’s Israeli co-director Yuval Abraham.

The release followed growing concerns about Ballal’s well-being and whereabouts after Abraham reported on Monday that the director had been attacked by a mob of Israeli settlers outside his West Bank village home and then arrested by soldiers.

His detention sparked outcry from the international and U.S. film community.

Top documentarians Alex Gibney, Liz Garbus, Ezra Edelman and Maite Alberdi were among some 3,700 signatories of a petition calling for Ballal’s immediate release and safety.

Documentary festival CPH:DOX – which is currently underway in the Danish capital of Copenhagen – also put out a statement saying it was “deeply horrified and shocked” by the reports of what had happened to Ballal.

“No Other Land is a testimony to injustice and displacement, and we stand in solidarity with the film’s directors, including Hamdan Ballal, in their fight to document the reality on the ground,” it said.

Channel 4, which is currently streaming the film in the UK following a broadcast premiere on its main channel on March 4, also said it was “deeply disturbed” by Ballal’s detention, describing him as “a remarkably brave filmmaker”.

Overnight the International Documentary Association also demanded Ballal’s “immediate release” and “justification for his detention”.

Ballal is one of four co-directors on No Other Land, alongside fellow Palestinian filmmaker and activist Basel Adra, Abraham and Israeli cinematographer, editor and director Rachel Szor.

Shot between 2019 and 2023, No Other Land captures the struggle of people living in the West Bank Palestinian villages of Masafer Yatta in the face of attempts by Israeli authorities and settlers to erase their homes and history from the map.

Israeli settlers have continued to attack the area since the film’s Oscar win on March 2.

The work world-premiered at 2023 Berlinale, where it won the Audience Award and Berlinale Documentary Award, with Abraham sparking controversy after he criticized a “situation of apartheid” in Israel and called for a ceasefire in Gaza in his acceptance speech.

Since its premiere, No Other Land has won 68 film festival and annual prizes, topped by the Academy Award for Best Documentary in March and also including the BAFTA Award, European Film Award, IDA Awards and Gotham Independent Film Awards.