Episode 76: SWANA Oscar Nominations and Awesome Con 2026 Announcement

Happy(ish?) New Year! We're back with a discussion on the 2025 Oscar Nominations and the groundbreaking Palestinian, Iranian, and Moroccan films that were nominated. The Palestinian and Tunisian The Voice of Hind Rajab, the Iranian and French It Was Just an Accident, and the Moroccan and Spanish Sirat each received a nomination for Best International Feature, while writer-director of It Was Just an Accident Jafar Panahi received a nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Covering genocide, oppression, and so much more, so much of SWANA set filmmaking is tragic, but the filmmakers always make powerful art to memorialize and honor our various struggles. Congratulations to all the filmmakers. We also have an exciting update about our panel return to this year's Awesome Con, March 13-15, in DC!   Swara's review of The Voice of Hind Rajab for But Why Tho?   Donate to Anera, UNRWA, and The Sameer Project Decolonize Palestine Donate to help Sudan Support the Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA) and families in Gaza Islamic Relief USA: Support Families in Palestine Our music is composed by Ashley Hefnawy. You can find more of her music here. We are a proud member of the Hard NOC podcast family.   Follow us on BlueSky @MaeAbdu, @spiderswarz Subscribe to The Middle Geeks on Hard NOC Media Please support us on Patreon!