The Oscars is being criticised (once again) for its lack of diversity in 2020, shunning almost everyone save for white actors and directors. However, at least Arab Cinema is gettings some time in the spotlight.
According to Harpers Bazaar, a total of four films from the Arab region have been nominated for awards in both the Documentary Feature and Live Action Short Film categories at the 92nd Academy Awards, which is scheduled to take place next month on Sunday 9 February.
The Tunisian short fim Brotherhood is a nominee worthy of considerable mention – its nomination for Best Live Action Short Film makes its director, Meryam Joobeur, the first Tunisian female director in history to be nominated for an Academy Award.
The 2018 short film Nefta Football Club, directed by Yves Piat and Damien Meghrebi, was also nominated alongside Brotherhood in the same category.
Elsewhere, in the Documentary Feature category, praise and nominations for Syrian cinema was ablaze. Feras Fayyad’s The Cave and Waad Al-Kateab’s critically acclaimed documentary on the Syrian civil war, For Sama, are both up for an Academy Award this year.
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A Syrian refugee herself, Al-Kateab’s haunting documentary recently became the most-nominated documentary in BAFTA history.
Last year, the film was awarded the Prix L’Oeil D’Or for Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival, and also won a total of four trophies at the British Independent Film Awards back in December 2019.
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