Egypt selected Omar Hilal’s Voy! Voy! Voy! as its Oscar entry for Best International Feature this week, following submissions from more than 90 countries so far.
Z, an Algerian-French political thriller directed by Costa-Gavras, remains the only Arab feature to have won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
It was submitted by Algeria in 1969 and won the following year.
After half a century of misses, can the cold streak be broken at next year's Oscars? Here’s a look at all the films submitted from the Arab world.
Voy! Voy! Voy! by Omar Hilal, Egypt
The dramedy, directed by Hilal, is based on a true story. It follows Hassan (Mohamed Farag), an impoverished but ambitious young man living in Egypt. He feigns blindness so he can join a visually impaired football team with plans to escape to Europe during a football tournament held there.
Hanging Gardens by Ahmed Yassin Aldaradji, Iraq
The film by Ahmed Yassin Aldaradji follows Asaad (Hussain Muhammad Jalil), a young boy who scavenges a landfill for metal and plastic he can sell with his brother Taha (Wissam Diyaa). Among the litter, Asaad comes across a human-size doll, presumably brought in and left behind by US soldiers.
Asaad names the doll Salwa and decides to keep and care for it, bathing it and trying to keep it from prying eyes. Soon, however, his secret is revealed, and he is in the crossfire of those who want to take Salwa for themselves, those who seek to commercialise from it, as well as those who want to obliterate it.
Inshallah a Boy by Amjad Al Rasheed, Jordan
The film is directed by Amjad Al Rasheed and dives into the nuances of Jordanian family law with a resonant story that begins when mother-of-one Nawal (Mouna Hawa) is suddenly widowed. Under local inheritance rulings, she discovers that her late husband's wider family are entitled to her property because she previously gave birth to a daughter, not a son. In dire straits, she pretends to be pregnant with a son.
Bye Bye Tiberias by Lina Soualem, Palestine
The documentary by Lina Soulalem revolves around four generations of Palestinian women, centred on Soulalem's mother – Succession star Hiam Abbass. Soualem zooms in on Abbass, whose grandparents Umm Ali and Hosni were forcibly displaced from their home in Tiberias in 1948.
Generations later, Abbass grows up in Deir Hanna but leaves her village and family behind at a young age to follow her ambition of becoming an actress in Europe. Thirty years later, Soualem returns with Abbass to her native village in the surroundings of Lake Tiberias. Once there, she begins questioning her mother’s bold choices.
The Mother of All Lies by Asmae El Moudir, Morocco
The documentary film is directed, written, produced and edited by Asmae El Moudir. It follows her exploration into the search for truth regarding her family background, combining personal and national history such as reflecting on the 1981 Bread Riots and drawing conclusions over contemporary Morocco.
Alhamour H A by Abdulelah Alqurashi, Saudi Arabia
Directed by Abdulelah Alqurashi, the film is based on true events that happened in Jeddah in the 2000s. The film revolves around a security guard who gains a huge fortune through fraud and convinces others to invest their money with him in the promise of a quick profit before things take a turn for the worse.
Goodbye Julia by Mohamed Kordofani, Sudan
The film by Arab Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani, tells the story of Mona, a singer from north Sudan, who is overcome with guilt after covering up the murder of a man from the south. Aiming to clear her conscience, she invites the man’s widow, Julia, and her son, Daniel, into her home.
Four Daughters by Kaouther Ben Hania, Tunisia
Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters tells the story of a mother named Olfa (Hend Sabry) who discovers that two of her daughters have been radicalised and joined ISIS. To fill the void left, film director Kaouther Ben Hania mixes documentary and fiction as she invites professional actresses and brings the viewer closer to the life stories of Olfa and her daughters.
The Burdened by Amr Gamal, Yemen
Based on a true story, the film by Amr Gamal follows Yemeni couple Ahmed and Israa. Set in 2019, both lose their jobs amid the country’s economic crisis. They have three young children and are struggling, then Israa unexpectedly finds out she’s pregnant with their fourth.
The shortlist of the 15 films will be announced on December 21 with the official nominations list revealed on January 23. The winner will be announced at the Oscars ceremony in March.
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The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****
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EA Sports FC 26
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No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Manchester United 2
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Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
Slow loris biog
From: Lonely Loris is a Sunda slow loris, one of nine species of the animal native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore
Status: Critically endangered, and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list due to growing demand in the global exotic pet trade. It is one of the most popular primate species found at Indonesian pet markets
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Dislikes: Sunlight. Being a nocturnal animal, the slow loris wakes around sunset and is active throughout the night
Superpowers: His dangerous elbows. The slow loris’s doe eyes may make it look cute, but it is also deadly. The only known venomous primate, it hisses and clasps its paws and can produce a venom from its elbow that can cause anaphylactic shock and even death in humans
The design
The protective shell is covered in solar panels to make use of light and produce energy. This will drastically reduce energy loss.
More than 80 per cent of the energy consumed by the French pavilion will be produced by the sun.
The architecture will control light sources to provide a highly insulated and airtight building.
The forecourt is protected from the sun and the plants will refresh the inner spaces.
A micro water treatment plant will recycle used water to supply the irrigation for the plants and to flush the toilets. This will reduce the pavilion’s need for fresh water by 30 per cent.
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From architects to sound technicians and construction companies, a group of experts from 10 companies have created the pavilion.
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Construction of the pavilion will take 17 months from May 2019 to September 2020.
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WBO Light Welterweight champion - 2004-06
WBA Welterweight champion – 2006-08
WBO Welterweight champion – Feb 2009-Nov 2009
WBA Light Middleweight champion – 2010-12
WBC Middleweight champion – 2014-15
WBO Light Middleweight champion – Aug 2017-Dec 2017
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory