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MAD Solutions to screen three Oscar-submitted films at Cinémathèque Nationale du Maroc
18 September 2025
Three MAD-distributed films—GAZA MON AMOUR by Tarzan and Arab Nasser, THE BURDENED by Amr Gamal, and INSHALLAH A BOY by Amjad Al Rasheed, each selected as its country’s official submission to the Academy Awards—will be screened over three consecutive months, from September 20th to December 20th, at Morocco’s esteemed Cinémathèque Nationale du Maroc.
To quote the institute, the Cinémathèque Nationale du Maroc is dedicated to the preservation, restoration and dissemination of national and international cinematic heritage.
Loosely based on a true story, GAZA MON AMOUR centers on Issa, a 60-year-old fisherman in Gaza who has never had the courage to tell Siham he's in love with her. When he finds a phallic sculpture of the Greek god Apollo in his fishing net, he believes his luck may have turned around.
Starring top Palestinian actors Hiam Abbas, Salim Daw, Maisa Abd Elhadi, and George Askander, the film—Palestine’s official submission to the 93rd Academy Awards—world premiered at the 2020 Venice Film Festival before screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the NETPAC Award for best Asian film.
It has since gone on to screen worldwide, winning several awards, including the Best Feature Award at the Mons International Festival of Love Films, a Silver Spike at Valladolid, a Critics Choice Award at Fribourg, and Best Actor at Antalya, along with nominations at Thessaloniki and Stockholm.
Meanwhile, THE BURDENED offers a deeply moving and intimate look at a middle-class family in the southern Yemeni city of Aden. After both parents lose their jobs due to the country’s economic crisis, they discover they are expecting a fourth child—a development that pushes them to consider abortion, challenging the conservative beliefs of their community.
Yemen’s official entry for the 96th Academy Awards, this feature was also the country’s first entry at Berlinale, where it impressively won the Amnesty International Film Prize right off the bat. Since then, it has garnered over 15 additional awards. It stars Abeer Mohammed, Khaled Hamdan, and Samah Alamrani.
Lastly, but certainly not least, INSHALLAH A BOY—an award-studded film in its own right—a recently widowed mother must pretend to be pregnant in order to protect herself and her daughter from Jordan's patriarchal inheritance laws, which would permit her husband's family to take everything she owned, leaving Nawal with nothing, solely because she did not bear him a son.
Winning over 13 awards worldwide, including two at Cannes, the film made quite the impression, receiving widespread critical acclaim. Naturally, it was chosen as Jordan’s official submission to the 96th Academy Awards. It stars Mouna Hawa, Haitham Alomari, and Yumna Marwan.
To quote the institute, the Cinémathèque Nationale du Maroc is dedicated to the preservation, restoration and dissemination of national and international cinematic heritage.
Loosely based on a true story, GAZA MON AMOUR centers on Issa, a 60-year-old fisherman in Gaza who has never had the courage to tell Siham he's in love with her. When he finds a phallic sculpture of the Greek god Apollo in his fishing net, he believes his luck may have turned around.
Starring top Palestinian actors Hiam Abbas, Salim Daw, Maisa Abd Elhadi, and George Askander, the film—Palestine’s official submission to the 93rd Academy Awards—world premiered at the 2020 Venice Film Festival before screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the NETPAC Award for best Asian film.
It has since gone on to screen worldwide, winning several awards, including the Best Feature Award at the Mons International Festival of Love Films, a Silver Spike at Valladolid, a Critics Choice Award at Fribourg, and Best Actor at Antalya, along with nominations at Thessaloniki and Stockholm.
Meanwhile, THE BURDENED offers a deeply moving and intimate look at a middle-class family in the southern Yemeni city of Aden. After both parents lose their jobs due to the country’s economic crisis, they discover they are expecting a fourth child—a development that pushes them to consider abortion, challenging the conservative beliefs of their community.
Yemen’s official entry for the 96th Academy Awards, this feature was also the country’s first entry at Berlinale, where it impressively won the Amnesty International Film Prize right off the bat. Since then, it has garnered over 15 additional awards. It stars Abeer Mohammed, Khaled Hamdan, and Samah Alamrani.
Lastly, but certainly not least, INSHALLAH A BOY—an award-studded film in its own right—a recently widowed mother must pretend to be pregnant in order to protect herself and her daughter from Jordan's patriarchal inheritance laws, which would permit her husband's family to take everything she owned, leaving Nawal with nothing, solely because she did not bear him a son.
Winning over 13 awards worldwide, including two at Cannes, the film made quite the impression, receiving widespread critical acclaim. Naturally, it was chosen as Jordan’s official submission to the 96th Academy Awards. It stars Mouna Hawa, Haitham Alomari, and Yumna Marwan.
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