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In recent years, Arab cinema has experienced a remarkable evolution, with filmmakers from the region crafting compelling narratives that resonate globally. With Palestine, against all odds, being among the top producers in terms of quality and Lebanon retaining a rather high level, the surprise comes from countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait, which seem to have taken big steps forward recently, a progress having to do with both their rich culture, and the abundance of funding available to them.

Asian Movie Pulse has been at the forefront of reviewing and highlighting such works, particularly this year, since Panos Kotzathanasis was included among the critics deciding The Critics Award for Arab Films. Below is a curated list of notable Arab films from the past few years (2022-2025) that have been featured on the platform.

1. Mediterranean Fever

“Mediterranean Fever” is an excellent film, excelling in acting, script, direction, while combining comedy...

New features from Tatiana Huezo, Kirsten Tan and Stephan Komandarev are among the 35 projects selected for the 2025Berlinale Co-Production Market.

The 35 projects hail from 27 countries, and will participate in the market to find financing and production partners. The Berlinale has also programmed its Forum Special and Forum Expanded strands.

Scroll down for the full list of titles

Salvadoran-Mexican filmmaker Huezo will participate with her new project Galerna, produced by Mexico’s Pimienta Films. Huezo’s first fiction feature Prayers For The Stolenwon a special mention in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2021, and was Mexico’s entry for the international feature Oscar.

The Berlinale’s Co-Production Market has selected 35 feature projects for its 2025 edition, including new works from Tatiana Huezo, Kirsten Tan and Stephan Komandarev.

The 35 projects hail from 27 countries, and will participate in the market to find financing and production partners. The Berlinale has also programmed its Forum Special and Forum Expanded strands.

Scroll down for the full list of titles

Salvadoran-Mexican filmmaker Huezo will participate with her new project Galerna, produced by Mexico’s Pimienta Films. Huezo’s first fiction feature Prayers For The Stolenwon a special mention in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2021, and was Mexico’s entry for the international feature Oscar.

French filmmaker Jonathan Millet’s thriller Ghost Trail won El Gouna Film Festival’s $50,000 Golden Star award for best narrative film. The festival ran October 24-November 1.

Lead Adam Bessa also won best actor for his performance as a young man on a mission to track Syrian regime leaders in France, where he must confront his former torturer. The film world premiered at Cannes’ Critics’ Week sidebar.

The $25,000 Silver Star award went to Julien Colonna’s war drama The Kingdom, while Indian romantic drama Girls Will be Girls by Shuchi Talati won the $15,000 Bronze Star and the Fipresci award.

The latter...

Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired global distribution rights for anthology film Disorder exploring Lebanon’s recent tumultuous years through the eyes of four directors.

The picture, which is due to premiere at Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival later this month, brings together Lebanese writers and directors Lucien Bourjeily (Heaven Without People), Bane Fakih (Keep It Together), Wissam Charaf, and Areej Mahmoud (Beirut 6:07).

The launch comes as the global spotlight is on Lebanon due to the flare-up in the conflict between Israel and Shiite Muslim political party and militant group Hezbollah, which has resulted in close to 2,000 deaths, and also displaced more than 350,000 people over the last two weeks.

The feature is curated and produced Bechara Mouzannar under the banner of Unbranded, in collaboration with Nadine Labaki and Khaled Mouzanar who take executive producer credits. The trio previously collaborated on Labaki’s 2018 film Capernaum

Blending drama and dark comedy,...

Dubai-based Front Row Filmed Entertainment has secured world rights to Disorder, an anthology feature that explores Lebanon’s recent tumultuous years.

Blending drama and dark humour, the film comprises four shorts – The Group, Motherland, Don’t Panic, and A Piece of Heaven – directly respectively by Lucien Bourjeily, Bane Fakih, Wissam Charaf, and Areej Mahmoud.

Curated and produced by Bechara Mouzannar through his Beirut-based outfit Unbranded, the film is executive produced by Lebanese director and actress Nadine Labaki of Cannes award-winner Capernaum.

The film is set to premiere out of competition at Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival (Oct 24-Nov 1).

As well as handling world sales,...

Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired world rights to anthology film “Disorder,” which depicts different aspects of Lebanon’s recent turbulence and the toll taken by the country’s disarray on its new generations.

The timely portmanteau film comprises four shorts helmed by prominent Lebanese writers and directors: Lucien Bourjeili (“Heaven Without People”), Bane Fakih (“Keep It Together”), Wissam Charaf and Areej Mahmoud (“Beirut 6:07”).

The shorts, titled “The Group,” “Motherland,” “Don’t Panic” and “A Piece of Heaven,” feature top Lebanese talents such as Manal Issa (“The Swimmers”), Rodrigue Sleiman (“The Traveller”), Farah Shaer (“Heaven Without People”) and Hanane Hajj Ali (“Bab El Shams”).

“Disorder” will world premiere out-of-competition at Egypt’s upcoming El Gouna Film Festival.

Curated and lead-produced by prominent advertising exec Bechara Mouzannar – who is a former creative chief of ad agency Leo Burnett in the Middle East and Africa and now runs a production...

‘Alpha’ Wins Europa Cinema Prize At Giornate Degli Autori

Dutch director Jan-Willem van Ewijk’s Alps-set father and son survival drama Alpha has won the Europa Cinemas Label for Best European Film in parallel Venice section Giornate degli Autori. The award comes with promotional and exhibition support from the Europa Cinemas network. The jury consisted of Europa Cinema members Daira Āboliņa (Splendid Palace, Riga, Latvia); António Costa Valente (Teatro Aveirense, Aveiro, Portugal): Andrea Porta (Cinema Teatro Nuovo, Varese, Italy) and Jana Trnková (Head of PR & Marketing, Kino Světozor, Prague, Czech Republic). The film stars Reinout Scholten van Aschat and Gijs Scholten van Aschat as a son and father with a difficult relationship who find themselves battling for survival when the weather turns sour during a testing walk in the mountains. Previous winners of the prize have included Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík’s Photophobia, Wissam Charaf’s Dirty Difficult and Dangerous,...

Lebanon is a completely f**ed up country and has been for many years, with local cinema, either in the form of features or documentaries, presenting the fact in the most eloquent fashion. Myriam El Hajj also moves in the same path, through a docudrama implementing the form of three video diaries, which narrates four tumultuous years in the recent history of the nation, starting with 2018.

Diaries from Lebanon is screening at Berlin International Film Festival

The three arcs revolve around three individuals and two events. Joumana is a feminist writer, poet and activist, who, in 2018 ran in the elections for the Lebanese parliament, eventually managing to be elected. In the Lebanese system, however, such events are not to be tolerated, with her being fraudulently ousted the very next day, leaving her supporters furious, with her arc showing how she fared after the whole endeavor. Perla Joe is also a...

That’s a wrap on the 34th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival.

The desert fest rolled its credits Sunday by announcing this year’s slate of award winners, including jury prizes and audience awards. Taking top honors — the Fipresci Prize as voted on by a special jury of international film critics who reviewed 35 of 93 official submission for the Academy Awards international feature film category — was Alice Diop’s legal drama Saint Omer.

The jury praised the French film for how it interrogates issues of society, culture, race and gender. “By harnessing the skills of her technical team, Diop turns Saint Omer into a shrewd, cogent, ambitious and overwhelming film which teases a metafictional awareness while remaining clear-eyed and unsentimental,” the jury said in a statement.

Other Fipresci Prizes went to screenwriters Carla Simón and Arnau Vilaró for Alcarràs for international screenplay (Spain), Oksana Cherkashyna from Klondike for best actress...

The Palm Springs International Film Festival announced winners for this year’s event, with “Saint Omer,” the charged courtroom drama that is the French selection for this year’s Oscars, taking the top prize for International Feature.

Oscar-qualifying films were celebrated at the high-profile yearly festival, with 134 films having been screened from 64 countries. In addition to the “Saint Omer” win, acting honors went to Ali Junejo from “Joyland,” Pakistan’s LGBTQ+-centered official entry, and Oksana Cherkashyna for the war drama “Klondike” from Ukraine. Mubi’s acclaimed drama “Alcarràs” claimed the screenwriting award and the documentary award went to the Canadian rape justice feature “To Kill a Tiger.”

Also Read:

Critics Choice Awards 2023 Winners List: ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Wins 5 Awards Including Best Picture

Below is a list of all of the jury winners from the Palm Springs International Film Festival:

Fipresci Prize for Best International Feature Film of...

Our sixth edition of Arab Stars of Tomorrow spotlights rising Middle Eastern and North African talents.

In our sixth edition of Arab Stars of Tomorrow, Screen International spotlights five emerging Middle Eastern and North African talents in the fields of acting and directing.

This year’s selection comprises Saudi writer/director Mohamed Al Salman, Moroccan writer/director Sofia Alaoui, Lebanese writer/director Dania Bdeir, Tunisian actor Adam Bessa and Lebanese actor Ziad Jallad.

The showcase has been organised in cooperation with the Red Sea International Film Festival for the first time. At a launch panel held at the festival on...

The circumstances in Lebanon have been dire for many years, with the surge of refugees from Syria, whose number now covers ⅔ of the whole population of the country, creating an impossible situation, both for them and the locals. Wissam Charaf, who also doubles as war correspondent, focuses on this issue, through an approach that both highlights it with realism, but also is filled with humor.

Dirty Difficult Dangerous is screening at Red Sea International Film Festival

Ahmed is a Syrian refugee roaming the streets of Beirut, searching for metal objects to be recycled, which is how he survives in life. Having escaped a bomb explosion in Syria, he still carries a rather unusual wound, as his left hand seems to be gradually getting more and more covered in metal. His life is bleak, and his only “solace” is his relationship with an Ethiopian domestic helper, Mehdia, with the two of...

The main competition of the 2nd edition of the Red Sea Film Festival – the Red Sea: Features Competition – underlines the fest’s ambition to celebrate pioneering works from filmmakers in the Arab region, Asia and Africa.

Oliver Stone presides the jury, whose other members include Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman (“Paradise Now”), Egyptian star Nelly Karim (“The Blue Elephant”), Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania (Oscar nominee “The Man Who Sold His Skin”), and Georgian director Levan Koguashvili (“Blind Dates”).

The 15 titles include nine films from the Middle East and North Africa region (of which six are from Middle East and three from North Africa), two films from Sub-Saharan Africa, and four films from Asia. They are directed by four women and 11 men. The competition includes two world premieres, four Mena premieres and one Arab premiere.

“Before Now and Then” – Indonesian helmer Kamila Andini’s third feature set in 1960s Indonesia, where the influential Mr.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Intl. Film Festival is becoming a major catalyst for moviemaking in a place where it hadn’t really existed for a long time before.

Ever since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion-related ban on cinema in 2017, all aspects of film industry activity have been booming in the country. It’s also rapidly becoming the Middle East’s top-grossing territory in terms of theatrical box office returns.

Reflecting this rapid growth, the Red Sea fest, Saudi’s first film event and market with international ambitions, has a lineup of more than 100 titles comprising a rich mix of film premieres from the Arab world, Africa and Asia. The festival, now in its second edition, will also screen standout international festival circuit titles that will screen, uncensored, Dec. 1-10 in Jeddah, on the eastern shore of the Red Sea. The opener, Shekhar Kapur’s frothy arranged marriage rom-com...

Also on the jury is Egyptian actor Nelly Karim and Georgian filmmaker Levan Koguashvili.

Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman and Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hani will sit on the feature competition jury for the 2nd edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival.

Also on the jury is Egyptian actor Nelly Karim and Georgian filmmaker Levan Koguashvili.

They join US director Oliver Stone who was previously announced as jury president.

The line-up for the feature competition comprises 15 titles including July Jung’s Next Sohee, Lotfy Nathan’s Harka and Wissam Charaf’s Dirty Difficult Dangerous.

The films are competing for the...

Greek prime minister attends festival to highlight incentives for international projects.

Costa Rican director Valentina Maurel’s I Have Electric Dreams has won the €10,000 Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos prize for best film at Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) which took place from November 3-13.

The film’s lead actor Reinaldo Amien Gutierrez also won the best actor award at the festival.

The French, Belgian and Costa Rican co-production, which premiered in Locarno, follows a young girl’s coming of age and her relationship with her estranged father. World sales are handled by Greece’s Heretic.

The international competition jury...

Cairo-based film marketing and distribution outfit Mad Solutions has acquired rights for Arab territories to three films that celebrated their premieres this year at the Cannes and Venice film festivals.

The deals include Fyzal Boulifa’s “The Damned Don’t Cry,” which bowed in the Venice Days sidebar at the Italian fest and will have its Middle East and North Africa premiere at Marrakech before traveling to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival. Also acquired was Rachid Hami’s “For My Country,” a Venice Horizons selection that will have its regional premiere at the Cairo Film Festival.

The company also picked up the rights to Clément Cogitore’s “Sons of Ramses,” which had its world premiere in the Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week strand.

“We are delighted to have acquired the distribution rights to three artistically distinguished films in 2022, which is considered the climax of our efforts in...

Born in 1973, Wissam Charaf is a Lebanese-French director, cameraman. and editor. In 1998, he began to work with the French-German network Arte, as a news cameraman, editor and journalist. He has since covered major conflict areas ranging from Lebanon and the Near East to Darfour, Afghanistan, Haiti or North Korea, and worked with programs such as Arte Info, Arte Reportages, Tracks, Metropolis. He directed six shorts, as well as the documentary It’s All in Lebanon. His first feature film, Heaven Sent, premiered at the Acid section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

On the occasion of Dirty Difficult Dangerous screening at Thessaloniki International Film Festival, we speak with him about his unusual approach towards the dramatic story of the film, refugees and maids in Lebanon, the country’s state in the past and now, and many other topics.

“Dirty Difficult Dangerous“ is screening at Thessaloniki International Film Festival

Although it is a very dramatic film,...

The circumstances in Lebanon have been dire for many years, with the surge of refugees from Syria, whose number now covers ⅔ of the whole population of the country, creating an impossible situation, both for them and the locals. Wissam Charaf, who also doubles as war correspondent, focuses on this issue, through an approach that both highlights it with realism, but also is filled with humor.

“Dirty Difficult Dangerous“ is screening at Thessaloniki International Film Festival

Ahmed is a Syrian refugee roaming the streets of Beirut, searching for metal objects to be recycled, which is how he survives in life. Having escaped a bomb explosion in Syria, he still carries a rather unusual wound, as his left hand seems to be gradually getting more and more covered in metal. His life is bleak, and his only “solace” is his relationship with an Ethiopian domestic helper, Mehdia, with the two of them...

Imanol Rayo’s “Dog Days,” a coming-of-age story set one sizzling summer in the Spanish countryside, won the top prize at the Thessaloniki Film Festival’s Crossroads Co-Production Forum, which wrapped with an award ceremony Wednesday night.

The Basque director’s fourth feature took home the Two Thirty-Five Co-Production Award, offering full post-production image and sound to a film that’s currently in development. Producer Iker Ganuza of Spanish production outfit Lamia was on hand to accept the prize from the jury, which praised the film as “a story about both emerging and buried passions, approached with a very personal touch of sensibility.”

Speaking to Variety ahead of the Thessaloniki industry event, Rayo described his “sensual summer story” as “a reflection on the way in which the intervention of the human being or ‘climate change’ modifies the landscapes, habits and lives of ordinary people.” The director’s debut feature, “Two Brothers,...

New films from Wissam Charaf, whose sophomore feature “Dirty Difficult Dangerous” premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival, and San Sebastian prize winner Imanol Rayo (“Two Brothers”) are among the 14 projects selected for this year’s Crossroads Co-Production Forum at the Thessaloniki Film Festival.

The event, which takes places onsite and online from Nov. 7 – 11, presents a slate of films in development from Southeast Europe, the Middle East, the Black Sea and the wider Mediterranean region to an audience of co-producers, distributors, festival programmers and sales agents.

The selection features works from 13 countries, including nine directors making their feature debuts, representing a range of styles, genres and dramatic themes, from a coming-of-age story about two strangers brought together in pursuit of a lost backpack (“Lost Years”) to the tale of a disconsolate lover determined to make his ailing partner happy at any cost (“Love Thy Neighbor”), and a pulled-from-the-headlines crime...

Oliver Stone will preside over the main competition jury for the second edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, honoring a promise to attend in that role dating back to 2020.

The Oscar-winning Born on the Fourth of July and Natural Born Killers director was previously announced as jury president for the festival’s inaugural 2020 edition, which was postponed to 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.

The festival, running December 1-10 in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, unveiled most of the lineup for its sophomore edition Monday. As of now, the event will showcase 131 feature-length and short films from 61 countries in total, 34 of them world premieres, 17 regional premieres, and 47 Mena premieres.

The main competition focuses on works by Arab, African and Asian directors and will showcase 15 films, with potential additions to come. They include the world premiere of Moroccan and French director Omar Mouldouira’s A Summer in Boujad,...

Shekhar Kapur’s rom com “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” will open the second edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, where director Oliver Stone will preside over the main jury.

The fest, which is Saudi’s first full-fledged film festival and market with international ambitions after the country in late 2017 removed its religion-related ban on cinemas, will run Dec. 1-10 in Jeddah, on the eastern shore of the Red Sea.

The closer is the world premiere of Saudi feature “Valley Road,” written and directed by Khaled Fahd, an uplifting drama about a man named Ali who lives in a mountain village and is perceived as having a disability.

Sandwiched in between is a mix of the cream of the festival circuit crop, such as Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winning “Triangle of Sadness,” Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin,” and Park Chan-Wook’s “Decision to Leave,...

Oliver Stone to head features competition jury.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has unveiled the programme for its second edition (December 1-10), with Studiocanal and Working Title’s romantic comedy What’s Love Got To Do With It? playing as the opening night gala.

Directed by Shekhar Kapur and written by Jemima Khan, What’s Love Got To Do With It? stars Lily James and Shazad Latif in the story of two people from different cultures who fall in love. It launched at the Toronto International FIlm Festival in September.

Rsiff will close with the world...

Click here to read the full article.

Dirty Difficult Dangerous from French-Lebanese director Wissam Charaf has won the 2022 Europa Cinemas Label award for best European film screening at this year’s Venice Days, a sidebar of the 79th Venice International Film Festival.

The feature is a love story set in Beirut between two migrants: Mehdia, an Ethiopian migrant domestic worker, and Ahmed, a Syrian refugee who struggles to survive by selling scrap metal. With nothing to lose, the pair seizes the chance to flee the city in a desperate attempt to start over elsewhere.

Along with the prize, Dirty Difficult Dangerous will receive promotional support from Europa Cinemas Label, an association of art house cinema exhibitors from across Europe, in its theatrical rollout.

“Wissam Charaf’s Dirty Difficult Dangerous is a delight — a very original and surprisingly uplifting film, and our unanimous choice as the winner of the Europa Cinemas Label here in Venice,...

Wissam Charaf’s Dirty Difficult Dangerous also won the Europa Cinemas Label.

Graham Foy’s The Maiden has won Venice’s Giornate degli Autori (GdA) Cinema of the Future award.

The Canadian-us film was among seven titles from the GdA sidebar, all first or second features, competing for the €3,000 prize.

Foy’s debut follows three suburban teenagers whose lives are intertwined when one of them disappears and strange occurrences begin cropping up.

The jury was made up of five students from an Italian film school who said: “The film impressed us with its emotional density and the immediacy of its unrestrained,...

The Lebanese film will now receive promotional support from Europa Cinemas.

Wissam Charaf’s Dirty Difficult Dangerous has won the Europa Cinemas Label at Venice Film Festival.

The Lebanese film, which opened the programme, entwines multiple love stories against the backdrop of Lebanon’s near collapse and stars Clara Couturent, Ziad Jallad, Rifaat Tarabey and Darina Al Joundi.

A jury of European exhibitors crowned the film as the best in the Giornate degli Autori (GdA) sidebar.

European cinemas will now receive financial incentives from Europa Cinema if they include Dirty Difficult Dangerous in their programming.

This is Charaf’s second feature film,...

Cairo-based film marketing and distribution outfit Mad Solutions has acquired rights for Arab territories to Venice competition entry “Les Miens” (“Our Ties”), directed by French actor and filmmaker of Moroccan descent Roschdy Zem.

“Our Ties” is co-written by Zem with actor/director Maïwenn, who co-stars.

Zem is a French cinema fixture, having starred in pics including “Other People’s Children” and directed several films including 2019’s “Persona Non Grata.”

“Ties” is a drama about family dynamics centered around a man played by Sami Bouajila whose personality changes radically after he suffers a head injury. Zem plays his TV presenter brother.

Mad Solutions acquired Zem’s latest film from Wild Bunch.

“Ties” is one of four films in different sections at Venice that Mad Solutions will be releasing across the Arab world. The others are: Syrian director Soudade Kaadan’s “Nezouh,” the follow up to her splashy debut, “The Day I Lost My Shadow,...

This fall, Arab filmmakers will be out in force at such prestigious international fests as Venice and Toronto. Venice alone boasts six features from first- and second-time Arab directors in its official sections, plus an additional six works-in-progress at its Final Cut Production Bridge. Meanwhile, Toronto opens with “The Swimmers,” a drama from U.K. helmer Sally El Hosaini based on the journey of Syrian sisters and Olympic hopefuls Yusra and Sara Mardini, who fled the war in their home country for Germany. Yusra competed in the 2016 and 2021 Summer Olympics. An additional six Arab films will screen at the Canadian fest.

Dek: Arab filmmakers embrace genres and issues as festivals and distributors take notice

By Alissa Simon

This fall, Arab filmmakers will be out in force at such prestigious international fests as Venice and Toronto. Venice alone boasts six features from first- and second-time Arab directors in its official sections,...

Done Dirt Cheap: Charaf Chafes at Exploited Migrants in Scanty Drama

For his sophomore film, Dirty Difficult Dangerous, Lebanese/French director Wissam Charaf presents an indictment against the demeaned reality of migrant workers in the changing landscape of Beirut. Named for the wage related neologism (sometimes called the 3Ds) encompassing the reality of labor performed by migrant workers, Charaf foregoes the comedic element which graced his 2016 debut Tombe du Ciel for an allegorically tinged love story between an Ethiopian maid and a Syrian refugee whose body is transforming into something inorganic.…...

Rsiff will give a cash award of €5,000 to one of the projects.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has partnered with Venice’s Final Cut, which supports work-in-progress films from Africa and the Middle East.

Rsiff will give a cash award of €5,000 to one of the projects. This is the first time this award has been given.

Venice Production Bridge programme Final Cut is holding its 10th edition this year. Eight feature projects will be shown to producers, buyers, distributors, post-production companies and film festival programmers during a three-day workshop from September 3-5.

Red Sea has backed...

After Venice Comp reveal, it was now up to the Giornate degli Autori sidebar (Venice Days) to unveil their line-up and if there was anyone wondering why Abel Ferrara was not mentioned on Tuesday… we now have our answer. Among a heavy LGBT friednly line-up, Artistic Director Gaia Furrer landed Ferrara’s Padre Pio – the Shia Labeouf portrait on the Italian monk who became a star among the Catholic faithful. Ferrara has been obsessed with the subject also producing a docu.

Opening the comp section we find Lebanese filmmaker Wissam Charaf with Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous – the story of a Syrian refugee and an Ethiopian migrant worker who find love in Beirut.…...

Abel Ferrara, Shia Labeouf And Steve Buscemi Head To Venice Sidebar Giornate Degli Autori

Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio, starring Shia Labeouf as the controversial 20th-Century monk, will be among the 10 films world premiering in competition in parallel Venice sidebar Giornate degli Autori (August 31 to September 10). Other contenders include Canadian filmmaker Graham Foy’s teen tragedy The Maiden, U.K.-Moroccan director Fyzal Boulifa’s mother and son tale The Damned Don’t Cry; Algerian costume drama The Last Queen by Adila Bendimerad and Damien Ounouri and opening film Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous, a Beirut-set love story involving a Syrian refugee and Eritrean careworker tale by French-Lebanese director Wissam Charaf. The films will compete for the GdA Director’s Award, which is decided by a jury of 27 young European cinephiles, presided over this year by French director Céline Sciamma, under the coordination of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) director Karel Och.

Click here to read the full article.

Shia Labeouf’s latest performance, a turn as an Italian monk in Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio, will get its world premiere in Venice as part of the Venice Days lineup, the independently-run sidebar to the Venice International Film Festival.

Labeouf, who co-starred in 2020 Venice Festival competition title Pieces of a Woman, took a well-publicized break from acting two years ago after his ex-girlfriend, Tahliah Debrett Barnett, sued him for assault, sexual battery and emotional distress.

Padre Pio sees Labeouf play a real-life Italian monk who became a superstar among the Catholic faithful, who believe he bore the holy stigmata, the wounds of Christ’s crucifixion. Padre Pio, who died in 1968 was canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II in 1999.

It is not yet clear whether Labeouf will attend Venice to promote the movie.

The 2022 Venice Days program opens with Dirty,...

Wissam Charaf’s Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous will open the Venice sidebar.

Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio, Steve Buscemi’s The Listener and rising UK director Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean are among the world premieres in this year’s Giornate degli Autori (GdA) , the independent sidebar of the Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10).

Lebanese director Wissam Charaf’s Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous will open the programme in competition. The film entwines multiple love stories against the backdrop of Lebanon’s near collapse.

UK director Fyzal Boulifa’s The Damned Don’t Cry is also playing in competition. The film is a...

White NoiseCOMPETITIONWhite Noise (Noah Baumbach)Il Signore Delle Formiche (Gianni Amelio)The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)L’Immensita (Emanuele Crialese)Saint Omer (Alice Diop)Blonde (Andrew Dominik)Tár (Todd Field)Love Life (Koji Fukada)Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths (Alejandro G. Inarritu)Athena (Romain Gavras)Bones & All (Luca Guadagnino)The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)Beyond The Wall (Vahid Jalilvand)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Argentina, 1985 (Santiago Mitre)Chiara (Susanna Nicchiarelli)Monica (Andrea Pallaoro)No Bears (Jafar Panahi)All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)The Son (Florian Zeller)Our Ties (Roschdy Zem)Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionThe Hanging Sun (Francesco Carrozzini)When The Waves Are Gone (Lav Diaz)Living (Oliver Hermanus)Dead For A Dollar (Walter Hill)Call Of God (Kim Ki-duk)Dreamin’ Wild (Bill Pohlad)Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)Siccità (Paolo Virzi)Pearl (Ti West)Don’t Worry Darling...

Abel Ferrara’s “Padre Pio,” starring Shia Labeouf as an Italian monk who gained rock-star status among the Catholic faithful, is among the titles set to launch from the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Giornate Degli Autori.

The section, also known as Venice Days, will see Labeouf back on the big screen after the actor — best known for his roles in the Transformers and Indiana Jones franchises — took a break from acting in 2020 following allegations made by his ex-girlfriend Tahliah Debrett Barnett. The singer, known as FKA twigs, sued the actor for sexual battery, assault and emotional distress.

It is not yet known whether Labeouf will be on the Lido to promote “Padre Pio.”

In the latest film by Ferrara, who is known for cult classics such as “Bad Lieutenant,” Labeouf puts in what Giornate chief Gaia Furrer called an “extraordinary” performance as the “mystic and feverish” Capuchin monk...

Cannes 2019 discoveries Mounia Meddour and Maryam Touzani are among the Mena filmmakers with works in post-production.

Middle Eastern and North African cinema enjoyed a high profile on the 2021 festival scene thanks to a raft of works from the region including Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch’s Casablanca Beats, Egyptian Cannes Critics’ Week winner Feathers, Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl’s Costa Brava, Lebanon, and Tribeca selection Souad by Egyptian filmmaker Ayten Amin.

Will this trend continue into 2022? Screen rounds up key titles from the Middle East and North Africa that are likely to excite festival programmers this year.

Am-Bi-Gu-i-Ty (Tun)

Dir. Nada Mezni Hafaiedh...

The inaugural edition of the Red Souk project market handed out $355,000 worth of prizes and other collateral awards.

Egyptian-uk filmmaker Lotfy Nathan’s debut fiction feature Contra scooped the top $30,000 post-production at the inaugural Red Sea Souk project market over the weekend.

The Tunisia-set, post-revolutionary tale follows an impoverished young man who is left in sole charge of his younger sisters when his father dies suddenly. It is lead produced by Julie Viez at Paris-based Cinenovo and Films Constellation is handling sales.

It was among five works in progress and 11 in projects in development or production, and another 12 projects developed...

Five works in progress and 11 films in development due to be showcased at event running December 8-11.

The Red Souk, the industry component of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival’s project market, has unveiled fresh details for its inaugural edition running December 8-11.

Running within the framework of its larger parent festival, which will also mark its first edition this year from December 6-15, the souk will focus on Arab and African filmmakers and will feature a project market, work in progress screenings, an exhibition space and an industry talks programme.

Lebanese-French director Wissam Charaf’s Beirut-set romantic drama Dirty Difficult Dangerous,...

Mary Berry BBC Series

Great British Bake Off alum and Britain’s Best Home Cook judge Mary Berry is reteaming with BBC One for Mary Berry’s Fantastic Feasts. The three-part series, which will also air on iPlayer, sees Berry help novice cooks who want to surprise a loved one with a great meal, teaching them a selection of achievable, impressive dishes. On the day of the special event, Berry and two celebrity helpers will be on hand to assist. Mary Berry’s Fantastic Feasts is produced by Rumpus Media. Emily Hudd and Kelly Sparks are executive producers. Applications for aspiring cooks are open and an air date has yet to be set.

Viacom Buys Chilean TV Network

ViacomCBS Networks International has closed previously announced acquisition of Chilevisión from WarnerMedia. The acquisition includes Chilevisión’s free-to-air television network, which is Chile...

Acquisitions include upcoming films Yousry Nasrallah, Muayad Alayan and Mohamed ben Attia.

Cairo-based film company Mad Solutions has unveiled an acquisition slate of more than 50 Arabic-language titles from 13 different territories that it plans to get into festivals and cinemas across the Middle East and North Africa in 2021 and 2022.

“During the pandemic, we used the opportunity to discuss the objectives and goals for Arab films, to strengthen links with the public, and to be a part of projects from the beginning, developing the films together,” said company co-heads Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab. “We feel that there is a bright future...

Looking back on our lives, it is a collection of moments which stands out that may come to mind at first, perhaps decisive fragments from our childhood, youth and adult life which have left a significant mark in our memory. First love and maybe even heartache, being in school and friendship may come to mind for most of us, but there are also those moments when we strayed from the path laid in front of us and took a brave step in one direction, which may have turned out to be false. However, these missteps are equally significant as we learn so much about ourselves in these times, which is perhaps why stories about them have become a cornerstone in literature, film and music. In his short film “Unforgettable Memory of a Friend”, French-Lebanese director and journalist Wissam Charaf tells the story of such a moment, a tale about bravery,...

Documentary follows tour of Gisèle Vienne’s rave-inspired dance work Crowd.

Brussels-based sales company Best Friend Forever (Bff) has acquired Patric Chiha’s documentary If It Were Love ahead of its premiere in the Berlinale’s Panorama section in February 2020.

The film is about the production of dance work Crowd by renowned French-Austrian choreographer Gisèle Vienne. The show, exploring the 1990s rave scene, recently played at the UK’s Sadler’s Wells as part of its international tour.

The documentary follows its 15 young dancers of different origins and horizons on tour. From theatre to theatre, the production mutates into strange,...

Projects by Sylvie Verheyde, Robert Schwentke, Faouzi Bensaïdi, Wissam Charaf, Berni Goldblat and Cédric Ido will be showcased at the co-production market event in Mulhouse on 26 and 27 November. 220 professionals will descend on Mulhouse tomorrow for the 17th Franco-German Film Meeting (26 and 27 November). Organised by UniFrance, German Films and the Académie Franco-Allemande du Cinéma, in partnership with the Cnc and Ffa, the event will host debates on topics impacting the industry on both sides of the Rhine but also a co-production market with 22 projects to be showcased.One of the most notable of the 12 French...

Just as Netflix tries to gain traction in the Middle East by backing local genre series, such as its first Arab original, “Jinn,” from Jordan, and Egypt’s upcoming “Paranormal,” Beirut’s Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival is launching the region’s first platform dedicated to genre films.

Five Arabic-language projects, ranging from a zombie comedy to a supernatural female-empowerment drama, have been selected for the Maskoon Fantastic Lab’s pilot edition, which is set for Nov. 7-8 in Beirut’s Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts. All the projects have a strong sociopolitical subtext, organizers say.

“Arab producers and film festivals haven’t really embraced genre cinema yet,” said Myriam Sassine, the fest’s chief exec. “So we felt the need for a platform to encourage and help those filmmakers who would like to venture into genre”

The fest’s artistic director, Antoine Waked, underlined that, at a time when genre...

A total of 31 projects from 28 countries have received Dfi support, including two Yemeni films for the first time.

Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl, Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat and Academy Award-nominated Syrian documentarian Feras Fayyad are among the recipients of the Doha Film Institute’s 2019 spring funding round.

Overall, 37 projects from 28 countries have received fresh grants from the Qatari body, which is one of the only steady sources of financing for independent cinema in the Arab world.

A total of 31 of the projects hail from the Arab world, with two film projects coming from Yemen for the first time.

Two of the grantee films,...

Selection includes films from Siddiq Barmak, Yoon Gaeun and Min Bahadur Bham.

In South Korea, the Busan International Film Festival (Biff)’s Asian Project Market (Apm) has announced 28 titles from 17 countries for this year.

The 20th Apm’s selection includes projects from Golden Globe best foreign language film award winner Siddiq Barmak (Osama) and Berlinale Generation director Yoon Gaeun (The World Of Us).

Afghan filmmaker Barmak’s Georgia-France co-production The Pass is a wartime drama about two soldiers from opposite sides who are forced to cooperate in order to cross a dangerous mountain pass alongside refugees.

Korean director Yoon’s Sora is a drama about a middle school girl who finds out a secret about the new kid in the neighborhood.

According to organizers, the number of projects submitted to Apm this year went up “almost 25%” from the previous year to reach 317. In the 19 previous years, “a total of 499 projects have been selected with more than 220 of...

The Arab Cinema Center is launching the Critics Awards to promote and support Arab cinema internationally. The winners will be for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Actor.

The 26 member jury includes prominent Arab and foreign critics from 15 countries from around the world. Egyptian film critic Ahmed Shawky is serving as manager of the Critics Awards.

Film analyst Alaa Karkouti, CEO of Mad Solutions, the company in charge of organizing the Arab Cinema Center’s events and also the first Pan Arab independent distributor and PR company of Arabic content to and from the Arab world, said: “The Critics Awards marks a first-time initiative that encompasses film critics from all over the world dedicated to Arab films within the strategy of Arab Cinema Center to add initiatives and events to every large-scale international film festival around the world.”

He added: “This is the first new addition...