The film won over 20 awards at numerous international festivals

The film titled The Present won the Best Short Film award at the Jim Sheridan Short Film Competition held for the first time as part of the seventh Dublin Arabic Film Festival.

The Present is written and directed by British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi and co-written by Hind Shoufani.

“On his wedding anniversary, Yusef and his young daughter set out in the West Bank to buy his wife a gift. Between soldiers, segregated roads and checkpoints, how easy would it be to go shopping?” reads the synopsis on IMDb.

The film stars Saleh Bakri, Mariam Kanj, Mariam Basha.

The Present won several awards at international festivals, including Audience Award at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, Brooklyn International Film Festival and at Arab Film Festival (AFF), Festival Prize at Aesthetica Short Film Festival, Best Actor and Gold Medal at Manhattan Short Film Festival, among 20 other recognitions. It was also nominated for over 20 other awards.

Born in 1978, Nabulsi is a writer, producer and director. In 2019, she co-wrote and directed the short 24-minute film, The Present. Prior to The Present, she wrote and produced three shorts, including Today They Took My Son, that premiered at the Edmonton International Film Festival.

The seventh edition of Dublin Arabic Film Festival took place online between 22 and 24 January.

ahramonline