Over the years, Lebanese filmmakers have sent out a >number of submissions to the Oscars, but have - and not for lack of exceptional talent - seen no nominations ... until now.

Lebanese filmmaker Ziad Douieri's latest feature film, >The Insult, has just been nominated for an Oscar, the first-ever Lebanese film in history to ever make it that far off in the race. 

"The Insult is nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film Category at the 90th Academy Awards, for the first time in Lebanese cinema's history," Douieri wrote in a Facebook post following the announcement. 

The film is competing with four others under the same category from countries including Chile, Hungary, Sweden, and Russia. 

Most people are beyond excited!

"Great for Arab cinema"

*Caps-lock mode on*

Lots of congratulations were in order

"The Insult made it!"

Even AUB's president Fadlo Khuri expressed pride in the news!

"Big milestone for Arab and Lebanese cinema!"

"Perfect example of what happens when censorship doesn't prevail in Lebanon"

Some aren't too happy considering Doueiri's controversial political views

The nomination comes after a wave of controversy surrounding the film and its director. Upon arriving in Lebanon after the premiere of The Insult in September, Doueiri’s Lebanese and French passports were >confiscated by Lebanese authorities. 

He was also ordered to attend a military tribunal "for further investigation" into his previous visit to Israel in 2012. The court eventually >cleared the filmmaker of all charges. 

Doueiri had visited >Israel using his French passport in 2012 and stayed in the territory during the filming of his feature The Attack.

The film caused quite the stir at the time of its release and was banned from screening because it was shot in Israel, an occupying state that Lebanon officially considers an enemy. 

Earlier this month, Doueiri said: "My fight is not with Israel today. My fight is with the BDS."

In January, American-Jewish publication Forward >spoke to Doueiri in relation to his film, and he unashamedly reassured the public that he is "fine with" being seen as pro-Israel or pro-Zionism. 

"I’m fine with it. You know they can accuse me of whatever the f—k they want," he said.

"And you know, my fight is not with Israel today. My fight is with the BDS. And they don’t scare me — I scare them."

When asked about his future projects, Doueiri said he plans to "portray people like the BDS in a very negative light." 

"That’s it. I think I have an agenda against them, and I’m gonna probably do it in my next film," he added.

Under Lebanese law, nationals can be prosecuted and risk jail time if they are found to have >contact with Israelis or if they travel or visit Israel. The country also prohibits the support of Israeli products and bans films featuring Israeli actors.

>Rayana Khalaf contributed to this post.