The opening of the second edition of the Hollywood Arab Film Festival took place three days ago at the Universal Cinema in Los Angeles, in the presence of a large number of stars and professionals in the film industry.
For an hour, the red carpet was unrolled for the guests, in the presence of intensive media coverage by Arab and American channels.
The stars and guests of the festival were welcomed by Maykel Bakhoum, director of the festival, Abraam Mikhael, artistic director of the festival, and Marlin Soliman, strategic director of the festival.
Among the guests, Ahmed Shaheen, the Consul General Egyptian in Los Angeles, Mansoor Bin Abdullah Alsulaitin, the consul general of Qatar in Los Angeles, the director Azza Elhosseiny, founder and director of the Festival of the African Film of Luxor, George Chamchoum, president of the Asian film festival in the United States, Mohsen, member of the Jury of the Hollywood Arab Film Festival in the category of feature films, the critic Mohammed Abderrahmane, founder and editor-in-chief of the site “Media.com”, Sami Bshay, president of the association “Khair al-Hayat” and Nivine Carmelle, ambassador of good intentions, as well as many other cinema professionals.
His Excellency Ahmed Shaheen gave a speech during this opening ceremony, in which he highlighted the importance of consular support provided since last year to the young founders of the festival, who managed in record time in establishing links and bridges between the Arab filmmakers present in California and the United States in general, and those present in the Arab world, adding that it has a lot of hope for the Festival and its future.
The Egyptian actress Laïla Eloui, who received the Aziza Amir Prize from the female star, delivered a speech in which she expressed her joy at being honored and being at the heart of Hollywood in Los Angeles, surrounded by many Arab filmmakers, saying that the success of the first edition of the Festival encouraged her a lot and motivated …
As announced a few days ago, the Tunisian actor Dhafer The Abidine was also honored, and received the Arab Star of Hollywood. In a statement published before the start of this edition, Maykel Bakhoum, director of the Hollywood Arab film festival, said he was happy with the presence of Dhafer Abidine among the honors of this second edition, affirming that he deserves this distinction for his artistic journey rich in Arab and foreign achievements that received praise from the public. He stressed that the actor worked hard to realize his dream, making it a model for young budding filmmakers.
“Dhafer Abidine is an artist of great talent in the cinema industry and we are delighted to pay tribute to him with the Arab star of Hollywood“Said the director of the festival. “” His work as an actor not only brought recognition to the Arab cinema, but also broke the barriers to Hollywood. We are delighted to celebrate his achievements during our festival. »»
The film Ghodwathe first film directed by Dhafer the Abdine was also screened during this edition. The projection was followed by a debate with the star. The Tunisian director Elyes Baccar, resident in the USA was present at this projection.
As for director Khairy Beshara, considered one of the main pioneers of new realistic cinema in Egypt and in the Arab world, it was for the whole of his work that he was honored.
The opening ceremony of this second edition of the Hollywood Arab Film Festival was followed by the screening of the opening film Kira and genius (2022), directed by Marwan Hamed and written by Ahmed Murad, with in the main roles Karim Abdel Aziz, Ahmed Ezz and Hend Sabry.
Among the films selected for this edition, the very beautiful documentary I will come back there, directed by Yassine Redissi (Tunisia) and 19 B of Ahmad Abdalla (Egypt). These two films had also made their first at the Cairo Film International Film Festival.
The Hollywood Arab Film Festival is organized as part of the celebration of the Arab-American heritage month, which begins in April of each year in the city that bears the same name as the festival, in order to create a new space so that filmmakers in the Arab region and North Africa meet and can find means of collaboration to develop and create. In addition, the festival would like to present the Arab cinema industry and its unique characteristics to international filmmakers and discuss with them challenges and problems with which it is confronted, as well as means of developing it. The festival also aims to create a knowledge platform to introduce the Western public to the Arab cinema and its creators, and to learn their problems, their causes and their cultural identity directly. Which was also confirmed by Dhafer the Abdine:
Neïla Driss
