On the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival, The Arab Cinema Center (ACC) Organized yesterday afternoon, at the Festival Palace, a Critics’ award ceremony (The Critics Awards).
ACC is a non -profit organization, created in 2015, which brings together several Arab companies working in the field of cinema. In 2 years of existence, the ACC has been at the origin of several initiatives, including for example the creation of a website, in English, aimed at providing information on Arab cinema to filmmakers inside and outside the region. This site includes a database on Arab feature films, a festival guide to allow Arab filmmakers to find a space for their projects, information on subsidies and support possibilities, as well as a training guide.
Critics’ prices is a new ACC initiative.
Alaa Karkouti, co -founder of the ACC, commented following the announcement of the winners: “The center of Arab cinema, thanks to the annual criticism prices, continues to support and promote Arabic cinema at the Arab and international level. This initiative is one of the methods we use to achieve this objective, and other initiatives will be launched to help disseminate Arabic cinema and establish its presence. ”
Maher Diab, also co -founder of the ACC, added: “The prices of criticism will continue each year during the Cannes festival with the participation of some of the best Arab and foreign criticisms passionate about Arab cinema. We seek to expand the committee to include more criticism from different countries and cultures ”.
These prizes are awarded to the best achievements in the Arab film industry: best film, best director, best screenplay, best actor and best actress.
The jury includes 24 members among the most distinguished Arab and foreign criticisms of 15 countries around the world. This year, Tunisian Mohamed Bouallègue was among them.
To be selected, the films had to have been programmed at international films festivals outside the Arab world in 2016, and have been co-produced by at least one Arab company (whatever the size of its contribution in the production of the film).
This year, these awards only concerned fiction feature films. From next year, there will be a documentary category.
The vote was made in two laps. A list of films meeting the above criteria has been sent to all criticism. Each of them had to select a single candidate per category and send their choice to the center of Arab cinema which was able to determine the list of finalists.
This list was subsequently referred to all the criticisms that still voted to determine the winners.
The winners are:
- Best actor: Majd Mastoura for the movie Hedi (Tunisia)
- Best actress: Helba Ali for the film Faded green (Egypt)
- Best scenario: Khaled and Mohamed Diab for the film Clash (Egypt)
- Best director: Mohamed Diab For the film Clash (Egypt)
- Best film: The last days of the city (Egypt and UNITED EMIRATS)
2016 Arab criticism winners
Dora Bouchoucha and the Majd Mastoura trophy
Ms. Dorra Bouchoucha, film co-producer Hedi, received the trophy in the name of Majd Mastoura, absent.
Majd Mastoura and his silver bear – Berlin 2016
Majd Mastoura had already won the price of best actor (silver bear) for this same role, in this same film, at the Berlin Festival in February 2016.
Mohamed Diab and his two trophies for his film Clash
The film Clash who won the prizes for best scenario and best director, had done in 2016 in 2016, the opening of the Un certain view section of the Cannes Film Festival.
Mohamed Diab, screenwriter and director is also jury member A certain look of this 2017 edition.
Congratulations to all the winners.
For information, below the list of criticisms, members of the jury (in alphabetical order): – Abdul Sattar Naji | Kuwait – Ahmed Shawky | Egypt – Deborah Young | USA – Dragan Rubesa | Croatia – Erfan Rashid | Iraq, Italy – Finn Halligan | GB – Hamadi Keroum | Morocco – Hauvick Habéchian | Lebanon – Houda Ibrahim | Lebanon, France – Hussam Assi | Palestine, GB-Ibrahim al-Arees | Lebanon – Jay Weissberg | USA – Kais Kassem | Iraq, Sweden – Khalil Demmon | Morocco – Mohammed Bougalleb | Tunisia – Mohammed Rouda | Lebanon – Nabil Hadji | Algeria – Nadim Jarjoura | Lebanon-Ola al-Sheikh | Palestine, UAE – Olivier Barlet | France-Osama Abd el-Fatah | Egypt – Sydney Levine | USA-Tarek el-Shinnawi | Egypt – Ziad Khouzaie | Iraq, GB
Neila Driss
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