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Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was celebrated at the fifth edition of Saudi Arabia’s Joy Awards in Riyadh over the weekend, with Anthony Hopkins presenting him with a Lifetime Achievement Award on stage.

The Million Dollar Baby Oscar winner, and the five-time nominee for films including The Shawshank Redemption and Driving Miss Daisy, was among a number of honorees who also included Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and UK director Guy Richie, while Matthew McConaughey was presented with the Personality of the Year Award.

Sunday’s star-studded ceremony – which is part of the Riyadh Season consisting of a series of high-profile entertainment, cultural and sporting events – featured performances by Saudi Singer Mohammed Abdo, U.S. pop star Christina Aguilera, Zimmer, Bocelli, Canadian pop icon Michael Bublé, Lebanese singing star Wael Kfoury, and Turkish singer-songwriter Tarkan.

Prior to the Joy Awards ceremony,...

Snapchat is ready to welcome the new year, but not without honoring 2022’s noteworthy achievements. A new year for some means a fresh start or reestablishing goals to achieve. In social media, 2023 means setting new targets and looking toward the future. But before social media platforms embark upon a new year, they must reflect on the successes that allow them to step into January with pride.

With the end of the year in sight, Snapchat has a lot to celebrate. The social media platform has documented the app’s success in its “How Snapchat Captured You in 2022” post. Given that Snapchat is renowned for its lenses, it is natural that it would showcase this year's top-used filters. In the company’s article, the app features the most popular effects of the year, the top sounds used in Snaps, favorite TV shows and movies users shared, and the most popular locations captured in Snaps.

Leading Dubai-based indie distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has teamed with the Kuwait National Cinema Company and Ehab Sergany and Ahmed Helmy's Shadows Communications to produce Egyptian sitcom Tough Luck with an all-star Arab cast. It's the first TV venture for Front Row and Sharif Ramzi and Mai Selim will take leading roles. Tough Luck is currently shooting in Cairo and will consist of two seasons of 30×30 episodes to be shot back to back. The companies are…...

Egyptian production company to produce first film to team director Amr Salama and Ahmed Helmy.

Egyptian production company New Century Production will produce Cotton And Mice – the first project to team director Amr Salama and the Arab world’s biggest star Ahmed Helmy.

The film is a comedy but the filmmakers and star are keeping the story under wraps, which is customary with Helmy’s projects. Scripted by Mostafa Helmy, the film also stars Yasmine Rais and Dalal Abd El Aziz.

Currently in production, the film will be given the widest day-and-date release ever across the region at the end of July when it goes out on 100 screens.

Salama’s credits include a segment of documentary Tahrir 2011: The Good, The Bad, And The Politician and recent hit Excuse My French, about a Christian kid who is forced to conceal his religious identity at an Islamic public school.

“The Egyptian film industry has staged a robust...

Exclusive: In a ground-breaking deal, the Kuwait National Cinema Company (Kncc) and Dubai-based Front Row Filmed Entertainment have jointly acquired worldwide rights to popular Egyptian comedian Ahmed Helmy’s next film.

“We did the deal directly with the actor,” said Front Row managing director Gianluca Chakra.

The companies plan to release the as-yet-untitled film theatrically across the Arab world and additionally tap into expat Arab communities in Europe, the Us and Latin America with targeted day-and-date releases.

“We’re looking to do a Magnolia type release internationally. It’s the first time this has been done with an Arab film,” explained Chakra, referring to Us distributor and day-and-date pioneer Magnolia Pictures.

“We pretty sure it’s going to find an audience in these territories,” he added. “Over here it will go wide like any of Helmy’s other films.”

Chakra and Kncc chief Hisham F. Al Ghanim said they would most likely distribute the title through local distributors...

Exclusive: In a ground-breaking deal, the Kuwait National Cinema Company (Kncc) and Dubai-based Front Row Filmed Entertainment have jointly acquired worldwide rights to popular Egyptian comedian Ahmed Helmy’s next film.

“We did the deal directly with the actor,” said Front Row managing director Gianluca Chakra.

The companies plan to release the as-yet-untitled film theatrically across the Arab world and additionally tap into expat Arab communities in Europe, the Us and Latin America with targeted day-and-date releases.

“We’re looking to do a Magnolia type release internationally. It’s the first time this has been done with an Arab film,” explained Chakra, referring to Us distributor and day-and-date pioneer Magnolia Pictures.

“We pretty sure it’s going to find an audience in these territories,” he added. “Over here it will go wide like any of Helmy’s other films.”

Chakra and Kncc chief Hisham F. Al Ghanim said they would most likely distribute the title through local distributors...

Offers the site, "Ahmed Helmy, age 16, a student at Waubonsie Valley High School working at the local iHop, signed as an extra and filmed his scene yesterday. Helmy mentions how he became super enough to land the part. 'Most of my friends knew about the movie already and some even tried out. I was at work when they came in and just asked me if I’d play myself as a waiter,' Ahmed said. The newbie thespian admitted that it was somewhat tiring to wait around while the scene was set to perfection, but found moviemaking to be "cool" once things truly got started. Among the "things" was the opportunity for Helmy to walk by Amy Adams' table a couple of times, indicating that he will make it into the film. As to Zack Snyder, he observed, “He’s a really cool and funny guy. He knows how...