“The Present” which is nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, will be streaming on the popular platform from March 18.
For those in the Middle East, the film is also now available on the Apple TV App, Google Play and OnDemand, distributed by Dubai-based Front Row Filmed Entertainment.
In addition to the Oscar nomination, the short film has also been nominated for Best British Short at the BAFTAs. It also won several awards at international festivals, including Audience Award at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, Brooklyn International Film Festival and at Arab Film Festival (AFF), Festival Prize at Aesthetica Short Film Festival, Best Actor and Gold Medal at Manhattan Short Film Festival, among 20 other recognitions. It was also nominated for over 45 other awards.
The film was co-written and edited by Palestinian filmmaker Hind Shoufani.
The Present is debuting globally on Netflix (Except France, French-speaking territories in Africa, & Japan) and will be available in Arabic with English subtitles.
According to Netflix, the addition of the film “comes as a part of its commitment to presenting Arab stories to the world, and its belief that great stories can come from anywhere.”
The film, Nabulsi’s first effort as a director, centers around a father and daughter who go out to buy the girl’s mother a present, a simple task that proves difficult due to the various checkpoints they must go through across Palestine’s West Bank.
Nabulsi has produced four previous short films all centering around Palestine. Her other films include “Today They Took My Son”, following a mother who traumatized after her young son was taken away, as well as “Oceans of Injustice” and “Nightmare of Gaza”, all exploring different facets of life for Palestinians. Nabulsi wrote and produced her first three shorts.
The Present was produced by Philistine Films, who will also produce Nabulsi’s upcoming feature debut that will also star The Present star Saleh Bakri. The film is set to begin production later in 2021, with an Arab and Western cast currently being courted.
In addition to directing, Nabulsi wrote the story, co-wrote the script, and produced her latest film. “Oceans of Injustice” was directed by Bruno de Champris, and” Today They Took My Son” was helmed by Pierre Dawalibi.
Previous Oscar contenders from Palestine include acclaimed director Hany Abu Assad, nominated twice in the International Feature category, then called Foreign Language Film, for his films Paradise Now (2005) and Omar (2015). Lebanese woman Nadine Labaki was nominated in the same category for her feature Capernaum in 2018.
The Present has also been nominated for Best British Short at the BAFTAs, with that ceremony happening on April 11.
The Academy Awards ceremony is happening this year on April 25.
Speaking to me recently via Zoom, Nabulsi said that award recognition for her will allow her to tell the types of stories she wants to tell by raising greater awareness for her work.
“I’m not sitting here with delusions of grandeur or anything like that,” she said.
“It’s just the appreciation of what this can do — allowing me to continue my work and continue to tell stories to raise the global social conscience.”
