Arab cinema features prominently on this year’s Academy Awards international feature film shortlist, with four titles from the region among the 15 films announced.
The shortlisted Arab entries are Iraq’s The President’s Cake, directed by Hasan Hadi; Tunisia’s The Voice of Hind Rajab, by Kaouther Ben Hania, which is set in Gaza; Palestine’s Palestine 36, Annemarie Jacir’s historical epic set during the Arab revolt of the 1930s; and Jordan’s All That’s Left of You, Cherien Dabis’s intergenerational family drama spanning Palestinian history from 1948 to the late 1980s.
They appear alongside Argentina’s Belen, Brazil’s The Secret Agent, France’s It Was Just an Accident, Germany’s Sound of Falling, India’s Homebound, Japan’s Kokuho, Norway’s Sentimental Value, South Korea’s No Other Choice, Spain’s Sirat, Switzerland’s Late Shift and Taiwan’s Left-Handed Girl.
Several of the other shortlisted films have close ties to the Mena region. Sirat, directed by Oliver Laxe, was filmed in Morocco and stars Algerian-Turkish actress Jade Oukid. It Was Just an Accident, while submitted by France, is an Iranian film from director Jafar Panahi, who was sentenced in his absence to one year in prison this month after shooting the film secretly inside Iran.
In total, 86 countries or regions submitted films for consideration in the category. The Academy defines an international feature film as a feature-length production made outside the US with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.
Academy members from all branches were invited to take part in the preliminary voting round, subject to a minimum viewing requirement. To be eligible to vote in the nominations round, members must watch all 15 shortlisted films. The final nominations will be announced in January.
The Voice of Hind Rajab premieres in UAE cinemas tomorrow. Release dates for the other shortlisted titles have not yet been set.
