The film is co-written by Palestinian filmmaker and poet Hind Shoufani and produced by Philistine Films.
Palestinian-British filmmaker Farah Nabulsi’s directorial debut The Present, nominated for the 93rd Academy Awards for Best Live Action Short Film category, will be streaming exclusively on Netflix on March 18, 2021.
The Present is debuting globally on Netflix (except the UK & Japan) and will be available in Arabic with English subtitles.
It is produced by Philistine Films, and with Farah Nabulsi as the executive producer along with producer Ossama Bawardi.
The film centres around a Palestinian man played by Saleh Bakri and his young daughter who set out in the West Bank to buy his wife a gift, showcasing the struggles they go through between soldiers, segregated roads, and checkpoints.
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 20 other awards.
Netflix’s latest addition to the short Arab movies list comes as a part of its commitment to presenting Arab stories to the world, and its belief that great stories can come from anywhere.
