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Kaouther Ben Hania will make history for her native Tunisia on Sunday with its first Academy Award if her hotly tipped nominated work Four Daughters triumphs in the Best Documentary category on Sunday.

The director belongs to a generation of Tunisian filmmakers who emerged in the wake of their country’s so-called Jasmine Revolution, which ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in early 2011.

Habib Attia, who is one of the original producers on Four Daughters, has been an integral part of this movement too.

The Tunis-based producer has cinema in his blood as the son of late producer Ahmed Bahaeddine Attia, whose credits included Moufida Tlatli’s 1994 breakout The Silences of the Palace, starring Tunisian-Egyptian star Hend Sabry in her first major big screen role.

On finishing his high school studies, Attia headed to his mother’s native Italy to study engineering in Milan, rather than immediately following in his father’s footsteps.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSThe poster for Hong Sang-soo's latest, Introduction, which will compete at this year's Berlinale. The competition slate for the 71st Berlin International Film Festival features a wide range of heavy hitters, from Hong and Radu Jude to Aleksandre Koberidze and Céline Sciamma. The competing titles, as well as the rest of the lineup, can be found here.The lineup for this year's SXSW Film Festival has been announced. The roster includes the directorial debut of House of Psychotic Women author Kier-La Janisse, a documentary on musician William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops, and a restoration of Les Blank's I Went to the Dance. Recommended VIEWINGFrom February 17 to February 23, the National Gallery of Art is screening the series "The Voice and Vision of Billy Woodberry." The series includes Woodberry's Bless Their Little Hearts, a landmark work of the L.

Tunisian director of multi-award-winning features won wide acclaim for film about the trauma suffered by generations of women

Moufida Tlatli, the pioneering Tunisian film-maker behind much-admired festival hits The Silences of the Palace and The Season of Men, has died aged 73. News media said that she died on Sunday, with the news confirmed by the Tunisian ministry of culture.

Tlatli remains best known for her breakthrough 1994 feature The Silences of the Palace, a lyrical study of a woman’s return to an abandoned royal residence, which tackled the themes of exploitation and trauma as experienced across generations of Arab women. It won a string of international awards, including the Sutherland trophy at the London film festival for the most “original and imaginative” film of the year, and was named as one of Africa’s 10 best films by critic and director Mark Cousins. The film was inspired by her mother’s...

France fetes Arab cinema figures at a special ceremony in Cairo.

Egyptian producer and Cairo International Film Festival director Mohamed Hefzy has been feted with France’s prestigious Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier des Arts et Lettres) honour.

Created in 1957, the order celebrates people who have made a significant contribution to the arts and literature. It has three grades commander, officer and knight.

Other cinema figures to have received the honour in the past include Italian distributor Valerio De Paolis and Sony Pictures Classics co-founders Michael Barker and Tom Bernard.

Due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, Hefzy...

Two powerful figures in the Arab world, Egyptian screenwriter and producer Mohamed Hefzy and Tunisian-born actor and model Hend Sabri, have been named Chevalier and Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters, France’s highest honors, respectively.

The ceremony took place in Cairo on Wednesday, and the honor was given by Stéphane Romatet, the ambassador of France in Egypt. The Order of Arts and Letters recognizes “eminent artists and writers, as well as people who have contributed significantly to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world.”

Hefzy, who is known for being charismatic and forward-thinking, has presided over the Cairo Film Festival since 2018 and has succeeded in raising its international profile significantly.

Hefzy’s award-winning credits span more than 30 feature films in Egypt, the U.S., U.K. and the Arab ‎world. His banner Film Clinic, which was founded in 2006 and now ranks as a ‎leading production...

Starting on Sept. 1, Turner Classic Movies will air 14-part documentary “Women Make Film,” an exhaustive look at female filmmakers worldwide and their work throughout cinematic history.

The series dissects elements of filmmaking — from tracking shots to crafting narrative arcs — through the work of everyone from Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow to Tunisian helmer Moufida Tlatli, the first Arab woman to direct a full-length feature.

“It’s not only about filmmakers in North America,” said TCM general manager Pola Changnon. “It’s about countries where filmmaking reputations aren’t that well-known, especially here. That’s why I love the title of this — ‘Women Make Film.’ It’s a statement of fact, and even though they’re not always well-represented in the film canon, women have been doing this for decades.”

Written and directed by Mark Cousins, the docuseries features an impressive list of narrators: Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda, Adjoa Andoh, Sharmila Tagore,...

With his epic fourteen-hour documentary “Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema,” writer/director Mark Cousins doesn’t skimp in his continuing pursuit to celebrate female filmmakers. Set to finally screen at its full-length (in five parts) next month at the Toronto International Film Festival, the movie is narrated by an eclectic list of voices.

UK actresses Adjoa Andoh and Thandie Newton, New Zealander Kerry Fox, India icon Sharmila Tagore, and Hollywood star Debra Winger all join previously announced narrators Jane Fonda and Tilda Swinton, who is an executive producer. Swinton narrates the first four hours of the film, which debuted at Venice 2018.

“We have 11 decades of women making films,” Swinton told IndieWire. “Another slight tweak of the goalpost is talking about women filmmakers. Women have made films since Mary Pickford onwards in incredible numbers. We know who made Hitchcock’s films with him (Alma Reville), but we don’t focus on it.

With his epic fourteen-hour documentary “Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema,” writer/director Mark Cousins doesn’t skimp in his continuing pursuit to celebrate female filmmakers. Set to finally screen at its full-length (in five parts) next month at the Toronto International Film Festival, the movie is narrated by an eclectic list of voices.

UK actresses Adjoa Andoh and Thandie Newton, New Zealander Kerry Fox, India icon Sharmila Tagore, and Hollywood star Debra Winger all join previously announced narrators Jane Fonda and Tilda Swinton, who is an executive producer. Swinton narrates the first four hours of the film, which debuted at Venice 2018.

“We have 11 decades of women making films,” Swinton told IndieWire. “Another slight tweak of the goalpost is talking about women filmmakers. Women have made films since Mary Pickford onwards in incredible numbers. We know who made Hitchcock’s films with him (Alma Reville), but we don’t focus on it.

Respected international sales veteran replaces outgoing Isabelle Giordano.

Sales veteran Daniela Elstner, best known as the head of Paris-based sales company Doc & Film International, has been appointed as the new managing director of French cinema promotional body Unifrance.

She replaces Isabelle Giordano who is leaving at the end of July after six years in the role.

The appointment was overseen by Unifrance president Serge Toubiana who was unanimously re-elected for another two-year term last week.

“I’m overjoyed that Daniela Elstner, a major figure in the export of French cinema, who is recognised throughout the profession for her knowledge...

Festival kicks off Thursday with gala screening of Daniel Schechter’s Life of Crime.

Forest Whitaker will be among the guests when the Abu Dhabi Film Festival kicks off Thursday evening. Whitaker will receive the festival’s Black Pearl Career Achievement award.

The festival will open with a gala screening of the Middle East premiere of Life of Crime with director Daniel Schechter and actor Mark Boone Junior both in attendance and participating in an audience Q&A.

Another career achievement award winner will be actress and director Hiam Abbass, who stars in festival world premiere Peace After Marriage.

International guests will include Danis Tanovic, Amma Asante, Jia Zhangke, Beeban Kidron, Emir Baigazin, Agnes B, Cedomir Kolar, Uberto Pasolini, Tao Zhao, Eugene Domingo, Louis Garrel, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Catherine Dussart.

Arab stars set to attend Adff include Mervat Amin, Hend Sabri, Ahmad Ezz, Basel Khayat, Eyad Nassar, Kinda Aloush, Abed Fahad, Manal Khader, Nesrine...

Festival kicks off Thursday with gala screening of Daniel Schechter’s Life of Crime.

Forest Whitaker will be among the guests when the Abu Dhabi Film Festival kicks off Thursday evening. Whitaker will receive the festival’s Black Pearl Career Achievement award.

The festival will open with a gala screening of the Middle East premiere of Life of Crime with director Daniel Schechter and actor Mark Boone Junior both in attendance and participating in an audience Q&A.

Another career achievement award winner will be actress and director Hiam Abbass, who stars in festival world premiere Peace After Marriage.

International guests will include Danis Tanovic, Amma Asante, Jia Zhangke, Beeban Kidron, Emir Baigazin, Agnes B, Cedomir Kolar, Uberto Pasolini, Tao Zhao, Eugene Domingo, Louis Garrel, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Catherine Dussart.

Arab stars set to attend Adff include Mervat Amin, Hend Sabri, Ahmad Ezz, Basel Khayat, Eyad Nassar, Kinda Aloush, Abed Fahad, Manal Khader, Nesrine...

Freida Pinto

Actress Freida Pinto is part of the Muhr Emirati & Shorts Jury for the upcoming ninth edition of Dubai film festival (December 9-16). The Jury president for this section of short films is Mark Adams, chief film critic for Screen International. The Jury also comprises of Nayla Al Khaja, UAE’s first female producer and director.

The Muhr Arab Feature Jury will be presided by Brazilian director Bruno Barreto. The Jury comprises Egyptian actor Aser Yassin, CEO of the Austrian Film Commission Martin Schweighofer, Tunisian director Moufida Tlatli and filmmaker Adnan Madanat.

The Muhr Arab Documentary, presided by English director Michael Apted will comprise documentary filmmaker Azza El-Hassan and Artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival since January 2012, Chris Fujiwara. Apted is also the recipient of the 2012 Diff Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature Jury will be presided by Korean director Chang-dong Lee. It will comprise festival organizer from Istanbul Azize Tan,...

To celebrate Africa Express rolling out across the UK, here's a guide to 10 classic films to have come from the continent

Africa played no part in the invention of cinema. For decades, in Tarzan movies, it was the subject of fake Hollywood fantasies. And yet, when Africans made films about themselves, the results were astonishing. There are scores of great African movies. Here are 10 of the best:

Cairo Station (Egypt, 1958)

If Alfred Hitchcock had been Egyptian and bisexual, and had himself played Norman Bates, Psycho might have been something like this. Sweaty, musical, melodramatic and political, Cairo Station stars ballsy writer-director Youssef Chahine as a homicidal newspaper seller in Cairo's vast railway station. In the 1950s, movies such as Rebel without a Cause and All That Heaven Allows were about repression as a ticking time bomb, but Chahine's film about sexual desire with no outlet was one of the biggest cinematic bombs of the decade.

A revealing new season of films at the Ica looks at the links between religion and revolt

Do the roots of the Arab spring lie in cinema? The question seems absurd: surely kleptocratic dictatorship, youth unemployment and grain prices all played a more important part. Iranian film scholar Hamid Dabashi disagrees: "If you want to understand the emotive universe from which the Arab spring arose, cinema is a good place to start. Look at a film like Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention: there the director spits out an apricot pit at an Israeli tank and blows it up. The scene is both fantasy and prophecy."

Dabashi will be speaking this month at Winds of Change, a series of talks and screenings at the Ica in London showcasing films from across the Muslim world; it hopes to explore the rich, sometimes fraught relationship between religion and civic society. Özer Kiziltan's...