São Paulo – Palestine shall have a representative at the Oscar ceremony this year. The film “Omar”, by director Hany Abu-Assad, was nominated alongside four competitors by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Hollywood this Thursday (15). “Omar” is running in the category for Best Foreign Language Film. The prize giving ceremony for the main award in the film industry shall be held on March 02, in Los Angeles.
This is the second time a Palestinian film is nominated for the Oscar, and also director Abu-Assad’s second time, since he was nominated in 2005 with “Paradise Now”. Now, Abu-Assad tells the story of the baker Omar, who frequently risks his life by crossing the wall that separates Israel from Palestine to meet his girlfriend. When he and two friends decide to kill a Israeli soldier, Omar is arrested and tortured to give up the name of the crime’s culprit. He reencounters his friends, but is suspicious that there is an Israeli informant among them.
The film has been shown in Brazil, in October 2013, during the 37th International Film Exhibit in São Paulo. “Omar” received, last year, the awards for Best Film and Director at the Dubai International Film Festival (Diff). Other nominees competing for the Oscar with the Palestinian feature film are “Alabama Monroe” from Belgium, “The Hunt” from Denmark, “The Great Beauty”, from Italy, which won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, and “The Missing Picture”, from Cambodia.
*Translated by Silvia Lindsey
