After weeks of suspense and much-anticipation, the glorious night of the Academy Awards landed on our calendars.
But what every Arab film buff was hoping for was a big win for either Jordan's Oscar-nominated film "Theeb," or Palestine's short comedy "Ave Maria."
Sadly, both brilliant productions missed out on taking the famous golden statuette home.
Theeb was beaten to the prize for Best Foreign Language Film award by the Hungarian holocaust drama Son of Saul. Meanwhile, Ave Maria lost out to British film Stutterer in the Best Live Action Short category.
Here we go! #Oscars #Theeb
Posted by Theeb - ذيب on Sunday, 28 February 2016
(L) Director Basil Khalil. (R) Producer Eric Dupont
Posted by Ave Maria on Monday, 8 February 2016
Despite not making an Oscar victory this time around, it's an achievement in itself to be nominated for an Academy Award.
Ave Maria's British-Palestinian director Basil Khalil said ahead of last night’s ceremony in Los Angeles, “I already feel like a winner as a nominee — that’s a title for life,” he said. “I can’t ask for anything else.”
Meanwhile, Theeb's British-Jordanian director and co-writer Naji Abu Nowar still has a number of international awards under his belt, proving that this Bedouin Western is a one-of-a-kind production.
Nowar and (Theeb) producer Rupert Lloyd's most recent win was for Outstanding Debut at the BAFTAs, making it the first arab film to win at the British awards.
Now the talented filmmaker is hoping to shed more light on the lives of Bedouin women, which he regrets not having included more of in Theeb.
As for us, we are hoping for more Oscar-winning films from our talented homebred filmmakers!
