For the first time in the Arab filmmaking industry, MAD Solutions had two of its films on the list of 2016 Oscars® nominations. According to The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences'announcements, the films are; the Jordanian film Theeb by director Naji Abu Nowar in the Best Foreign-Language Film Award list and Basil Khalil's Palestinian short film AVE MARIA in the Live-Action Short Films category. The Oscars® winners will be announced on February 28th at the 88thAcademyAwards® ceremony.

With this release, AVE MARIA will be the first short in Arab cinemas while Theeb marks its come back after the successful tour around the world during 2015 that the audience will have the opportunity to watch the two Arab candidate films of the most important film awards in the world.

Film Analyst Alaa Karkouti, CEO of MAD Solutions, commented on this saying, "Arab cinema is on the way to become a global film industry. The success of having two Arab films nominated for the Oscars® is the outcome of the great efforts done by a new generation of Arab filmmakers who gave Arab cinema an innovative boost by their passion and creativity. Both films, Theeb and AVE MARIA, have an international cinematic language which made them able to achieve major international success gathering awards from all over the world. For instance, Theeb had a wide theatrical release across 11 Arab countries, which is a staggering number for a non-Egyptian film. Theeb will be re-released in Arab cinemas to share this great film with its fans and audiences. The Palestinian short film AVE MARIA will also have a theatrical run becoming the first Arab short in cinemas. We're taking this as a first step in the journey of a thousand miles towards a sustainable future for the Arab filmmaking industry."

Theeb is Jordanian director/writer Naji Abu Nowar's first feature film which he co-scripted with Bassel Ghandour. Set in the Arabian Desert of 1916, the film follows Theeb, a young Bedouin boy, and his brother Hussein as they leave the safety of their tribe to venture on a treacherous journey at the dawn of the Great Revolt. If Theeb is to survive he must quickly learn about adulthood, trust and betrayal.

AVE MARIA is a 14-minute comedy tells the story of Palestinian nuns living in the middle of the West Bank wilderness, who have their daily routine of silence and prayer disrupted when a family of Israeli settlers breaks down right outside their convent just as the Sabbath is beginning. The family needs to get home but can't operate the phone, and the Nuns have taken a vow of silence.