Winners of new initiative launched by Arab Cinema Center (Acc) to be announced during Cannes.Scroll Down For The Full Line-up
Mohamed Diab’s Egyptian Revolution drama Clash (pictured) which opened Cannes’ Un Certain Regard last year, Withered Green and Hedi lead the nominations in the inaugural edition of new Critics’ Awards aimed at Arab cinema.
Clash and Withered Green, which premiered at Locarno last summer and went on to win best director for Egyptian film-maker Mohammed Hammad at Dubai International Film Festival in December, picked up three nominations each.
Tunisian director Mohamed Ben Attia’s Hedi, the metaphorical tale of a young man who rebels against a predestined path set by his family, has been nominated in two categories, including best actor for star Majd Mastoura, who was feted for his performance at the Berlinale in 2016.
The winners will be announced during Cannes on Sunday May 21.
The initiative overseen by Cairo-based promotional body the Arab Cinema...
Mohamed Diab’s Egyptian Revolution drama Clash (pictured) which opened Cannes’ Un Certain Regard last year, Withered Green and Hedi lead the nominations in the inaugural edition of new Critics’ Awards aimed at Arab cinema.
Clash and Withered Green, which premiered at Locarno last summer and went on to win best director for Egyptian film-maker Mohammed Hammad at Dubai International Film Festival in December, picked up three nominations each.
Tunisian director Mohamed Ben Attia’s Hedi, the metaphorical tale of a young man who rebels against a predestined path set by his family, has been nominated in two categories, including best actor for star Majd Mastoura, who was feted for his performance at the Berlinale in 2016.
The winners will be announced during Cannes on Sunday May 21.
The initiative overseen by Cairo-based promotional body the Arab Cinema...
- 5/8/2017
- ScreenDaily
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...
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...
- 4/16/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Jordanian Media Commission has denied the director of the Jordanian feature “Blessed Benefit” Mahmoud Massad permission to release the film theatrically in local cinemas due to its provocative content according to the commission.
Al Massad today issued a press release explaining that the Media commission has rejected the film as it contained scenes that are “harmful to the state deference”. Al Massad was very shocked to learn that the Media commission rejected the film especially after the Royal Film Commission has officially granted the production permission to shoot the film entirely in Jordan in 2014 and the film received funding from the Rfc as well.
The Royal Film commission had organized a single screening of “Blessed Benefit” on the 6th February 2017 in the presence of Hrh Princess Rym Ali at Prime Cinema in Abdali. The screening was packed, where over a couple hundred of the audience weren’t able to...
Al Massad today issued a press release explaining that the Media commission has rejected the film as it contained scenes that are “harmful to the state deference”. Al Massad was very shocked to learn that the Media commission rejected the film especially after the Royal Film Commission has officially granted the production permission to shoot the film entirely in Jordan in 2014 and the film received funding from the Rfc as well.
The Royal Film commission had organized a single screening of “Blessed Benefit” on the 6th February 2017 in the presence of Hrh Princess Rym Ali at Prime Cinema in Abdali. The screening was packed, where over a couple hundred of the audience weren’t able to...
- 2/20/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Co-production market running Dec 9-11 during the Dubai International Film Festival unveils line-up.
Lebanese actress Hiam Abbass [pictured] and Palestinian director Najwa Najjar will be among the film-makers presenting their upcoming feature film projects at the Dubai Film Connection (Dfc) this year.
The annual co-production event, focused on Arab cinema and taking place during the Dubai International Film Festival (Dec 7-14), unveiled its upcoming line-up on Monday (Nov 7).
Projects
A total of 13 projects – hailing from Lebanon, Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Morocco – have been selected.
Abbass will present her second feature-length film A Girl Made Of Dust, an adaptation of Nathalie Abi-Ezzi’s acclaimed novel about the experiences of a family living in a village near Beirut during the 1980s Lebanese civil war, told from the perspective of its youngest member, the eight-year-old daughter Ruba.
Najjar – who won the top prize at the Dfc in 2011 for her last film Eyes Of A Thief – returns with The...
Lebanese actress Hiam Abbass [pictured] and Palestinian director Najwa Najjar will be among the film-makers presenting their upcoming feature film projects at the Dubai Film Connection (Dfc) this year.
The annual co-production event, focused on Arab cinema and taking place during the Dubai International Film Festival (Dec 7-14), unveiled its upcoming line-up on Monday (Nov 7).
Projects
A total of 13 projects – hailing from Lebanon, Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Morocco – have been selected.
Abbass will present her second feature-length film A Girl Made Of Dust, an adaptation of Nathalie Abi-Ezzi’s acclaimed novel about the experiences of a family living in a village near Beirut during the 1980s Lebanese civil war, told from the perspective of its youngest member, the eight-year-old daughter Ruba.
Najjar – who won the top prize at the Dfc in 2011 for her last film Eyes Of A Thief – returns with The...
- 11/7/2016
- ScreenDaily
What if the freedom that you’ve always craved resides in the place you least expect? In the new film “Blessed Benefit,” 45-year-old construction worker Ahmad (Ahmad Thaher) is arrested for fraud after using a client’s down payment to help his cousin sell 10 brand-new laptops. While he waits in prison for his debt to be repaid, he worries about his family and their financial situation, but soon realizes he feels liberated in prison as all of his material concerns are taken care of by the institution. Now, his new worry is that he’ll lose the liberty thrust upon him. Watch an exclusive trailer for the film below.
Read More: The 2016 IndieWire Tiff Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival
The film is directed by Mahmoud al Massad. He previously directed two feature-length documentaries: “Recycle,” which follows an ex-mujahadi fighter struggling to make a living in Jordan,...
Read More: The 2016 IndieWire Tiff Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival
The film is directed by Mahmoud al Massad. He previously directed two feature-length documentaries: “Recycle,” which follows an ex-mujahadi fighter struggling to make a living in Jordan,...
- 9/20/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
“Blessed Benefit” (“Inshallah Estafadit”) written and directed by Mahmoud al Massad is a bit of a joke, but a dark joke being played upon the people of Jordan. Ten years ago, telling such a story of their degradation would have been a real joke. Today, to Mahmoud Al Massad’s chagrin, it is a true story.
This is story of Everyman who, in his misadventures with the law and the lawless, finds the blessed benefit of sharing the human comedy with others imprisoned for all trying to eke out a way to live in society, which, as I listened to the urgency in Mahmoud’s voice, has become atrociously greedy and violent within the space of the last ten years.
Maher Khammash as El Mor and Ahmad Thaher as himself, Ahmad
I spoke with Mahmoud at length and wished we could have had more time and hope we will indeed have more time at a future time.
This is story of Everyman who, in his misadventures with the law and the lawless, finds the blessed benefit of sharing the human comedy with others imprisoned for all trying to eke out a way to live in society, which, as I listened to the urgency in Mahmoud’s voice, has become atrociously greedy and violent within the space of the last ten years.
Maher Khammash as El Mor and Ahmad Thaher as himself, Ahmad
I spoke with Mahmoud at length and wished we could have had more time and hope we will indeed have more time at a future time.
- 9/19/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: Acquisitions ahead of the festival include Mijke de Jong’s Layla M, which premieres in Tiff’s Platform strand.
Germany-based international sales agent Beta Cinema has added four titles to its slate ahead of this month’s Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 8-18).
The company has picked up Mijke de Jong’s drama Layla M [pictured], which is set to premiere in the Platform competition section. The film follows an 18-year-old Dutch girl with Moroccan roots who joins a group of radical Muslims.
Director de Jong won a Crystal Bear at Berlin Film Festival in 2004 for his music drama Bluebird. Layla M was produced by Topkapi Films, Menuet, Chromosom Film, Schiwago Film, and Ntr and will receive its European Premiere in competition at the BFI London Film Festival in October.
Beta has also moved for Mahmoud al Massad’s dark comedy Blessed Benefit, which follows a Jordanian contractor who is imprisoned on an unfair fraud charge. Once inside...
Germany-based international sales agent Beta Cinema has added four titles to its slate ahead of this month’s Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 8-18).
The company has picked up Mijke de Jong’s drama Layla M [pictured], which is set to premiere in the Platform competition section. The film follows an 18-year-old Dutch girl with Moroccan roots who joins a group of radical Muslims.
Director de Jong won a Crystal Bear at Berlin Film Festival in 2004 for his music drama Bluebird. Layla M was produced by Topkapi Films, Menuet, Chromosom Film, Schiwago Film, and Ntr and will receive its European Premiere in competition at the BFI London Film Festival in October.
Beta has also moved for Mahmoud al Massad’s dark comedy Blessed Benefit, which follows a Jordanian contractor who is imprisoned on an unfair fraud charge. Once inside...
- 9/6/2016
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
Programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) announced that Isabelle Huppert, Kunle Afolayan and Genevieve Nnaji and Mark Wahlberg will be among the eight participants in the In Conversation With… series.
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
- 8/23/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) announced that Isabelle Huppert, Kunle Afolayan and Genevieve Nnaji and Mark Wahlberg will be among the eight participants in the In Conversation With… series.
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
- 8/23/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Next month’s Toronto International Film Festival has nearly completed its lineup announcements, and each one is more impressive than the last. Today’s Tiff picks feature a number of slate additions for sections as varied as the forward-focused Discovery, their burgeoning Pop Vr section and even a handful of last minute additions to the Tiff Docs list. New titles of note that have just been announced include the Cannes hit “The Red Turtle,” Wayne Roberts’ “Katie Says Goodbye” and the well-regarded “Sand Storm,” all of which will screen as part of Discovery.
Read More: Tiff Lineup: 5 Reasons to Get Excited About the 2016 Program
Both the Next Wave and Tiff Kids section pull titles from other, previously announced sections to create an appealing lineup for the next generation of cinephiles. Standout titles include “Moonlight,” “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea” and “The Eagle Huntress.”
Additionally, the festival has...
Read More: Tiff Lineup: 5 Reasons to Get Excited About the 2016 Program
Both the Next Wave and Tiff Kids section pull titles from other, previously announced sections to create an appealing lineup for the next generation of cinephiles. Standout titles include “Moonlight,” “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea” and “The Eagle Huntress.”
Additionally, the festival has...
- 8/23/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Producer of Rafi Pitts’ Berlinale Competition title is lining up several new projects.
Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion, the German producer of Rafi Pitts’ Berlinale Competition title Soy Nero [pictured], is lining up projects from Israel and Cyprus.
Twenty Twenty’s managing director Thanassis Karathanos told Screen that principal photography on Israeli filmmaker Veronica Kedar’s Family began at locations in the German city of Halle last week.
Although the film’s story is set in Israel, Family will be shot completely in Germany. It marks another collaboration for Karathanos with Mosh Danon’s Inosan Productions after working together on Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s 2009 film Ajami.
Kedar’s second feature had been pitched at the 2014 edition of the Berlinale Co-Production Market where Twenty Twenty’s second project, Christos Georgiou’s Happy Birthday, was also presented to potential co-producers.
A March start is planned for the shooting of Georgiou’s first feature since the 2008 comedy Small Crime and...
Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion, the German producer of Rafi Pitts’ Berlinale Competition title Soy Nero [pictured], is lining up projects from Israel and Cyprus.
Twenty Twenty’s managing director Thanassis Karathanos told Screen that principal photography on Israeli filmmaker Veronica Kedar’s Family began at locations in the German city of Halle last week.
Although the film’s story is set in Israel, Family will be shot completely in Germany. It marks another collaboration for Karathanos with Mosh Danon’s Inosan Productions after working together on Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s 2009 film Ajami.
Kedar’s second feature had been pitched at the 2014 edition of the Berlinale Co-Production Market where Twenty Twenty’s second project, Christos Georgiou’s Happy Birthday, was also presented to potential co-producers.
A March start is planned for the shooting of Georgiou’s first feature since the 2008 comedy Small Crime and...
- 2/14/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.