The Present (2020)
The Present Review
The Present is a 2020 live-action short film that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. It’s an important movie.
Yusef and his young daughter set out in the West Bank to buy his wife a gift on their wedding anniversary. This film offers a harrowing look into this Israeli-occupied region of Palestine and how hard it is just living for the Palestinians in the West Bank. The direction from Farah Nabulsi is excellent and the fact that she made this movie with guerrilla tactics needs to be respected. It’s illegal on paper, but essential as it provides us an unbiased look into the Israeli practices here.
The Israeli soldiers were played by Palestinian actors, but at least they aren’t one-note as they range from abusive to downright understanding. That was crucial in order for the movie to not feel manipulative. Saleh Bakri is wonderful in the main role and the father-daughter relationship is truly touching. The movie is well shot and quite moving, but the ending did feel a bit abrupt, and overall the movie is overly simplistic thematically speaking.
