The Palestinian-British movie, “The Present,” just won the Best Short Movie at the BAFTA awards! However, this isn’t the only great achievement under the belt of this movie. It’s also nominated for an Oscar for the Best Live Action Short Film category. The British-Palestinian director behind the movie, Farah Nabulsi, is also a vigorous human rights advocate. Farah has been in the filmmaking business for six years, and is currently working on her first feature-length film. Certainly, Farah dedicates this movie to all Palestinians who struggle daily under occupation.
The BAFTA awards were held virtually online for two days, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was a remarkable event nonetheless. Farah made a virtual speech, and dedicated the BAFTA award to “the people of Palestine.” According to Farah Nabulsi, art gives voice to the silenced, and builds empathy.
The movie is about to even go bigger though. Besides being a BAFTA-winning, Oscar-nominated film, and much more, it’s now available on the online streaming service, Netflix. People from all over the world can watch it now, and in Arab countries, it’s already been streaming.
Farah’s celebration
The Present
The movie discusses the journey of a young girl and her father who go buy her mother a present for her wedding anniversary. Throughout their journey, the audience can see the daily struggle of Palestinian people whilst they are navigating the colonized country. Obstacles such as boundaries, soldiers and checkpoints, are some examples of what they endure and go through, portraying the lack of a basic right to freedom of movement.
If you haven’t watched the film yet, get on with it! It already landed several awards, is written and directed by a woman, is streaming on Netflix, and discusses human rights and the plight of an important Arab cause. Once you watch it, you’ll understand why it deserved its recognition.