Ahead of the Oscars this Sunday, the nominees for the 6th Annual Lebanese Movie Awards were recently announced. Still in its infancy, the LMAs is a yearly awards ceremony that celebrates the best and brightest of Lebanese cinema, in both their artistic and technical aspects.

With the proliferation of Western awards ceremonies, ones that often overlook films from Lebanon or from this region in general, it’s comforting to know that there is a dedicated group of people working hard to bring into the spotlight and appreciate the work of Lebanese filmmakers in the name of bolstering the local film scene.

Read More: On banning Rana Eid’s ‘Panoptic’: who will tell our stories?

As expected, Nadine Labaki’s Capharnaum led the nominations with 11 nominations across the baord in the film categories, followed by Tony Farjallah’s period piece Morine at nine, and Heaven Without People and Khabsa at seven, each. Elsewhere, Mazen Khaled’s Martyr made a surprise appearance in the Best Motion Picture Category despite missing key nominations for directing and acting.

Rana Eid’s provocative documentary Panoptic, which was banned from screening at the Beirut Cinema Days film festival early in 2018, surprisingly (and ironically) scored a nomination for Best Documentary. Though this is a testament to the spirit of resistance, one must question who these awarded films are made for if they cannot be accessed by the public and what that says about the state of our cinema in Lebanon. Perhaps these nominations will drive people to seek these films more often the rare times they are available or in international festivals.

Read More: 91st Academy Award Nominations (Complete List)

Here is the complete list of nominees of the 6th Lebanese Movie Awards:

Best Motion Picture

Still Burning

Morine

Capharnaum

Heaven Without People

Martyr

Good Morning

Khabsa

Best Directing

Georges Hachem (Still Burning)

Lucien Bourjeily (Heaven Without People)

Tony Farjallah (Morine)

Nadine Labaki (Capharnaum)

Bahij Hojeij (Good Morning)

Best Ensemble Cast

Heaven Without People

Morine

Capharnaum

Good Morning

Khabsa

Best Writing

Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily, Michelle Kesserwany, Khaled Mouzanar, Georges Khabbaz (Capharnaum)

Bahij Hojeij, Rachid El Daif (Good Morning)

Mazen Khaled (Martyr)

Shady Hanna, Abboudy Mallah (Khabsa)

Lucien Bourjeily (Heaven Without People)

Best Cinematography

Andreas Sinanos (Still Burning)

Ahmad Al Trabolsi (Heaven Without People)

Christopher Aoun (Capharnaum)

Pol Seif (Morine)

Milad Tauk (Good Morning)

Best Editing

Elias Chahine (Still Burning)

Lucien Bourjeily (Heaven Without People)

Konstantine Bock, Laure Gardette (Capharnaum)

Vartan Avakian (Martyr)

Wajdi Elian (Khabsa)

Best Sound Design

Emmanuel Zouki (Still Burning)

Haitham Atme (Heaven Without People)

Chadi Roukoz (Capharnaum)

Rana Eid (Morine)

Olivier Huillet (Khabsa)

Best Soundtrack

Charbel Haber (One of These Days)

Mike Massy (Khabsa)

Iyad Al Rimawi (Morine)

Khaled Mouzanar (Capharnaum)

Wissam Hojeij (Good Morning)

Best Production Design

Nadine Ghanem (One of These Days)

Walid Saliba (Khabsa)

Adel Aouni, Moncef Hakouna (Morine)

Hussein Baydoun (Capharnaum)

Issa Kandil, Kathy Lebrun (Insyria)

Best Makeup & Hair

Murielle Vercruysse (Insyria)

Houssein Ardestani (Morine)

Claudine Choueiri, Nader Sidani, Michelle Sleiman (Capharnaum)

Best Wardrobe

Beatrice Harb (One of These Days)

Claire Dubien (Insyria)

Lila Lakhoua (Morine)

Zeina Saab De Melero (Capharnaum)

Chadi El Zein (Still Burning)

Best Short

Cargo (Karim Rahbani)

The President’s Visit (Cyril Aris)

Reprisal (Mike Malajalian)

The Last Days of the Man of Tomorrow (Fadi Baki)

Before We Heal (Nadim Hobeika)

Best Documentary

Panoptic (Rana Eid)

A Feeling Greater Than Love (Mary Jirmanus Saba)

Un Certain Nasser (Badih Massaad, Antoine Waked)

The ceremony will take place on May 3, 2019, at Casino Du Liban.