DUBAI: One step closer to knowing the 2023 Oscar nominees, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released its shortlists for 10 categories on Wednesday, with three films by directors from the MENA region making the cut.
Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani's "The Blue Caftan" has been shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, it was just announced. Starring Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri as well as Lubna Azabal and Ayoub Messioui, the film made a mark at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The film follows a husband and wife duo who run a handmade caftan shop in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas while their marriage hides a secret that neither wants to confront.
Also making the cut in the same category is Egyptian-Swedish filmmaker Tarik Saleh’s "Cairo Conspiracy," submitted from Seden and the winner of Best Screenplay and the coveted François Chalais Prize at Cannes Film Festival 202.
The film, originally titled "Boy From Heaven," follows Adam, a fisherman's son, who is offered the ultimate privilege to study at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo. When the Grand Imam suddenly dies, Adam becomes a pawn in a ruthless power struggle between Eqypt's religious and political elites.
The third and final film to be selected from the region is Iranian writer-director Ali Abbasi’s “Holy Spider.” The films tells the true story of Saeed Hanaei, a construction worker and decorated veteran of the Iran-Iraq war who in the years 2000 and 2001 strangled 16 female sex workers in the Iranian city of Mashhad.
