Rabat – The Moroccan documentary film “The Mother of All Lies” (Kadib Abyad) by Asmae El Moudir has made the shortlist of the Academy Awards for Best International Film.
On December 21, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled the preliminary lists for 10 of its below-the-line categories.
The best international film list includes 15 films out of 88 initially nominated. Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters” is the only other Arab film on the shortlist.
The Mother of All Lies tells El Moudir’s story when she returns to her parents’ house in Casablanca to help them move.
While sorting through her childhood belongings, she finds a picture of children gathering in a schoolyard, and a shy girl sitting on a chair and staring at the camera attracts her attention.
The childhood photo was El Moudir’s only object remaining, but she was convinced that she is not the child in the photo, which marks the starting point for shedding light on a web of lies in her family history against the backdrop of the 1981 Casablanca riots.
Earlier this month, the film won the 20th edition of the Gold Star at the Marrakech International Film Festival, becoming the first Moroccan film to do so.
For the Academy’s International Feature award, each country has the right to nominate only one film of its own production to compete. No Arab film has ever won before.
The final nominations for the Academy Awards are set to be announced on January 23, with the final winners being announced at the Oscars ceremony on March 10, in Los Angeles.
Read also: Moroccan Filmmaker Asmae El Moudir Dedicates Prestigious Award to King Mohammed VI
