Tue 16 March 2021:
The Present, a film by Palestinian Director Farah Nabulsi, has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Live Action Short Film category.
Taking to Twitter after the announcement was made, Nabulsi wrote: “Literally standing on tables! Amazing news – The Present has been nominated for an Oscar! Thank you to The Academy!” Adding a picture of her on her table with a large smile on her face.
Literally standing on tables! Amazing news – The Present has been nominated for an Oscar! Thank you 🙏🏾 😹✌🏾to The Academy! pic.twitter.com/3eBwrPt7jg
— Farah Nabulsi (@farah_nabulsi) March 15, 2021
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.
Speaking to MEMO last year,Nabulsi said the short film was based on her own experiences and that of other Palestinians with restricted freedom of movement in the West Bank. She just could not understand the checkpoints.
The Present has also been nominated for Best British Short at the BAFTAs, with that ceremony happening on April 11.
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.”
The winners of the 93rd Academy Awards will be announced on 26 April.
