Dubai: Omar, the Dubai-funded film by Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad, is among the five nominees for best foreign language film at this year’s Academy Awards, it was announced on Thursday.
The Palestinian and Emirati production, a love story set in the West Bank, was the opening film of last year’s Dubai International Film Festival (Diff). “We wouldn’t have completed the film without the support of Enjaaz [Diff’s post-production and production funding support programme],” said Abu Assad at the time. The film won Best Director and Best Feature at Diff’s Muhr awards.
Omar, which stars Adam Bakri as the title character, a young man embroiled in the murder of an Israeli soldier, also won the Cannes Film Festival’s Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard segment.
It’s Abu Assad’s second Oscar nomination: He had a nod for 2006’s Paradise Now, about Palestinian suicide bombers, which also screened at Diff.
“We are thrilled for Hany Abu Assad and the cast and crew of Omar on receiving a very well deserved Oscar nomination in the Foreign Language Category at this year’s Academy Awards,” Diff director Shivani Pandya told Gulf News.
“Omar was part funded by DIFF’s Enjaaz post-production funding programme and opened the 10th edition of DIFF, which was an ideal start for our celebration of the past decade’s progress towards raising the profile of Arab cinema on the world stage. We wish Hany and the team the very best of luck.”
The other foreign language film nominees are The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium), The Great Beauty (Italy), The Hunt (Denmark) and The Missing Picture (Cambodia). The Oscars will be handed out in Los Angeles on March 2.
