Two female Arab filmmakers have been shortlisted for an Oscar

Two films directed by Arab women have been shortlisted for the 93rd Oscars, it was revealed on Wednesday. Palestinian-British filmmaker Farah Nabulsi’s short film “The Present” and “The Man Who Sold His Skin” by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania both have a chance of scooping up an Academy Award at the ceremony in April.

Nabulsi’s short film has been shortlisted in the Live Action Short category alongside Karishma Dev Dube’s “Bittu,” “Da Yie,” the Doug Rolland-directed “Feeling Through” and “The Human Voice” from filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar among others.

Meanwhile, Ben Hania’s critically-acclaimed feature has been shortlisted for the International Feature Film award among 14 other films, which include Chilean director Maite Alberdi’s “The Mole Agent,” Czech biographical drama directed by Agnieszka Holland “Charlatan” and Danish director Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round.”

“The Man Who Sold His Skin,” stars Yahya Mahayni as a Syrian refugee who allows his own body to be turned into a work of art. Part love story, part art-world satire, the film is a complex study of a refugee’s struggle with borders and residency permits.

Inspired by the story of a Swiss national who was tattooed by the Belgian artist Wim Delvoye, the film already won Mahayni the Orizzonti Award for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival.

“The Present” is a short film that tells the story about a man named Yusef and his daughter who set out in the West Bank to buy his wife a gift.

The official nominations will be announced on March 15, ahead of the Oscars ceremony, which is taking place on April 25.