Palestine has selected 'The Stranger' as its official entry for the Academy Awards 2022.
Syrian-Palestinian-German co-production The Stranger, directed by Ameer Fakher Eldin, won the Best Arab Film award across the Cairo Film Festival’s three competitions.
The Stranger debuted at this year’s Venice International Film Festival and has been selected as Palestine’s official entry in the International Feature Film category at the upcoming Academy Awards.
The story is about a doctor going through an existential crisis in the occupied Golan Heights and stars Palestine’s Ashraf Barhoum (The Kingdom, Paradise Now) playing an unlicensed doctor Adnan whose life takes an unlucky turn when he rescues a wounded man upon his return from the war in Syria. The Stranger is intended to be the first instalment of a trilogy directed by Ameer Fakher Eldin. His second feature with the provisional title Nothing of Nothing Remains is being developed by the Syrian-German-Palestinian-
The film features Ashraf Barhoum, Amal Kais, Mohammad Bakri, Amer Hlehel, Hitham Omari, Mahmoud Abu Jazi, Elham Araf, and Cila Abusaleh.
Meanwhile, Joaquin del Paso’s coming-of-age drama The Hole in the Fence won The Golden Pyramid Award for Best Film. Italian director Laura Samani took The Silver Pyramid for her period drama Small Body.
Kuwait-born Egyptian actor Mohamed Mamdouh won the Best Actor Award for his role in Nadine Khan’s Abu Saddam.
The Best Actress Award went to a German-born actress Swamy Rotolo for her performance in the Italian-language drama A Chiara, directed by Jonas Carpignano.
Zaid Abu Hamdan’s Jordanian black comedy Daughters of Abdel Rahman picked up the Audience Award under the Best Arab Film Award, and Afef Ben Mahmoud picked up the Best Acting Performance Award in The Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition Award for her role in the Tunisian drama Streams.
