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As Michael Hawley synopsized in his lineup preview of the 14th edition of the Arab Film Festival (Aff): "This year's opening night Aff film is Lyès Salem's Mascarades, a comedy that was Algeria's submission for last year's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar®. A box office success at home and in France, the film stars director Salem as a ridiculed villager who invents a drunken story about his narcoleptic sister's engagement to a wealthy European. The impending faux-marriage gains him the respect of the village, but the enmity of his sister who's secretly in love with his best friend. Director/star Lyès Salem is scheduled to attend the screening, which will be preceded by the presentation of Aff's annual Noor Awards for Outstanding Feature, Short and Documentary. In last Friday's San Francisco Chronicle, there was an interesting interview with Lyès conducted by writer Jonathan Curiel."...

March comes in like a lion and leaves often times like a lamb. And this month of March, TV5MONDE premieres an array of critically acclaimed films including a team of Female Agents sent behind enemy lines in World War II, to real life traumas and triumphs of losing a loved one. Cinephiles who adore French film have a wonderful array to plan for this coming month. Here.s a glimpse at some of the films playing in March: Mascarades Friday, March 5, 2010 11:00 pm Et / 8:00 pm Pt Variety raves, .Lively ethnic laffer deftly tosses matrimony, celebrity and narcolepsy into a potent brew with international appeal.. Director and star Lyes Salem plays...

Check out the Algerian gem Masquerades (Tff 2009), screening this week at the Museum of Modern Art as part of the Global Lens series. Masquerades (Mascarades) is the story of the complex struggle between tradition and change in modern day Algeria. Mounir, played by director Lyes Salem, is a gardener with a narcoleptic sister Rym (Sarah Reguieg), whom he fears will never marry. Mounir finds her a wealthy suitor, but she has ideas of her own; she and Khliffa (Mohamed Bouchaïb), the eccentric town artist, are madly in love. What ensues is absolute chaos: sandstorms, car chases, scandals, and weddings, with a narcoleptic in the mix, all captured with beautiful cinematography and accompanied by vibrant music. Director Salem shows the complex role of women in Algeria throughout Masquerades. Rym is a defiant woman who sings loudly in the back of the car, refuses to wear her headscarf, and sneaks late-night chats...

And here's the rest, including the Midnight Section, all after the break.

Encounters

This collection of engaging and entertaining narrative features and documentaries, a mixture of dark comedies and lighter fare, offers work from returning filmmakers, established talent, and popular subjects, and includes 10 World Premieres. Included in Encounters are performances from Academy Award®-nominated actors Thomas Haden Church, Melissa Leo, Elisabeth Shue; directorial debuts from both Eric Bana and Cheryl Hines (from a screenplay by Adrienne Shelly); stories ranging from an ill-fated man's discovery of inspiration and happiness, dysfunctional families, and unrequited high school crushes to a doc on the emergence of New York’s independent film scene.

• Blank City, directed by Celine Danhier. (USA) - World Premiere, Documentary. Celine Danhier’s kinetic doc mirrors the urgent, anything-goes energy of her subject: the Diy independent film movement that emerged in tandem with punk rock in late ‘70s downtown New York.

A day following the announcement of the 81st Academy Awards' nominees, the French Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have uncovered their official selections for the 34th Cesar Awards. On Friday, January 23, gangster movie "Mesrine" has been given ten nominations for the France's top awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Jean-Francois Richet.

Apart from the two mentioned gongs, "Mesrine", which is the third highest grossing French film in 2008, also garnered a Best Actor nod for leading actor Vincent Cassel. It also collected two more counts in the category of Adapted Screenplay for Abdel Raouf Dafri and Jean-Francois Richet, and of Cinematography for Robert Gantz.

In the foreign film nominations, Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" were put in competition with Bouli Lanners' "Eldorado", Matteo Garrone's "Gomorra", Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "Lorna's Silence", James Gray...

The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) drew to a close with a stunning award ceremony with fireworks, dervish dancing and a rich array of the most wonderful food for hundreds of guests.

The recognition of the best films in the festival and in the AsiaAfrica and Arab Muhr Competitions brought to an end an exciting event in which the crosswinds of Arab nations, Africa and Asia mixed and clarified issues of the film business which will be of great concern for the new cycle the film business is now entering.

The Muhr Awards included a new AsiaAfrica segment embracing films from such emerging markets as Afghanistan, Turkey, Cameroon and Kazakhstan. The Muhr Awards for Excellence in Arab Cinema made a strong show chosen from filmmakers all over the Middle East and around the world. DIFF's Artistic Director Masoud Amralla al Ali had good reason to be proud and the filmmakers will return with future films, judging on their reactions to the royal treatment they received in Dubai.

The prize for Best Emirati Talent went to Haydar Mohammed, Best Emirati Female Filmmaker was presented to Nujoom Al Ghanem and Best Emirati Filmmaker went to Saeed Salmeen Al-Murry. For the first time, the International Federation of Film Critics, or FIPRESCI, awarded a Best Arab Film prize to Masquerades by Lyes Salem.

Other prizes include the Arab Muhr Competition for Feature Film:

* Best Film: Masquerades by Lyes Salem

* Special Jury Prize: Adhen - Dernier Maquis by Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche

Documentary:

* First Prize: 'Thakirat L Sabbar: Hikayat Thalath Qura Falasteenia' ('Memory Of The Cactus: A Story Of Three Palestinian Villages') by Hanna Musleh

* Special Jury Prize: 'Samaan Bidiyaa' ('The One Man Village') by Simon El Habre

* Second Prize: Marina Of The Zabbaleen by Engi Wassef

Best Cinematographer: Luca Coassin for 'Casanegra'

Best Composer: Sylvain Rifflet for 'Adhen - Dernier Maquis'

Best Editor: Nicolas Bancilhon for 'Adhen - Dernier Maquis'

Best Screenplay: Annemarie Jacir for Milh Hadha Al-Bahr ('Salt Of This Sea')

Best Actress: Hafsia Herzi for Francaise

Best Actor: Anas Elbaz and Omar Lotfi for 'Casanegra'

Short Films:

* First Prize: La Route Du Nord ('The North Road') by Carlos Chahine

* Special Jury Prize: 'Bint Mariam' by Saeed Salmeen Al-Murry

* Second Prize: Sa et Asary ('At Day s End') by Sherif El Bendary

Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards

Feature Film:

* Best Film: Treeless Mountain by So Yong Kim

* Special Jury Prize: Kyuka ('Vacation') by Hajime Kadoi

Documentary:

* First Prize: Mental by Kazuhiro Soda

* Special Jury Prize: 'Xiao Li Zi' ('Survival Song') by Guangyi Yu

* Second Prize: Une Affarie De Negres ('Black Business') by Osvalde Lewat

Best Cinematographer: Reza Teymouri for 'Aram Bash Va Ta Haft Beshmar' ('Be Calm And Count To Seven')

Best Composer: Jorga Mesfin, Vijay Iyer for Teza

Best Editor: Sreekar Prasad for Firaaq

Best Screenplay: Deepa Mehta for Heaven On Earth

Best Actress: Anh Hong for Trang Noi Day Gieng ('Moon At The Bottom Of The Well')

Best Actor: Askhat Kuchinchirekov for Tulpan

Short Films:

* First Prize: 'Shao Nian Xue' ('Young Blood) by Haolun Shu

* Special Jury Prize: 'Expectations' by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

* Second Prize: 'Kam Sanabanyz' ('Everything Is OK') by Akjoltoy Bekbolotov

The festival had previously announced the results of the second annual Dubai Film Connection (DFC), established to bring Arab and international film professionals together. DFC selected 18 projects from 108 submissions, of which three were awarded a US$25,000 Dubai International Film Festival Prize: 'This is my Picture When I Was Dead' by Mahmoud al Massad (Jordan-Netherlands); 'Barbershop Trinity' by Chadi Zeneddine (Lebanon); and 'Ouardia Once Had Sons' by Djamila Sahraoui (Algeria-Morocco). The three producers of the three projects will attend the prestigious 2009 Cannes Producers Network.

'Every Day is a Holiday' by Dima El-Hor (Lebanon-France) won the DIFF Desert Door Work in Progress Award, the 6,000 Euro ‘"International Relations" prize from French broadcaster Arte went to 'Death for Sale' by Faouzi Bensaiei (Morocco-France-Belgium); and the new Bahrain Film Production Company Works in Progress Award went to 'When I Saw You' by Annemarie Jacir (Palestine-Jordan). The new Young Journalist Award, instituted in 2008 to stimulate interest in film criticism as a career in the region, went to Melissa Khan of Mahe Manipal University in Dubai.

Winners of cash prizes from 21 competing projects in the Dubai Film Connection were chosen by a jury. Global film funds, sales companies and distributors will make deals with the winners of cash prizes, which total about $118,000. The Work In Progress Award of $25,000 from Kuwait company Desert Door went to 'Every Day Is A Holiday', a French/ Lebanese/ German co-production by Dima El-Horr and produced by Thierry Lenourvel. 'When I Saw You' by AnneMarie Jacir from Palestine won the $10,000 Bahrain Film Pfoduction Co. award for projects in development. 'Death For Sale' by Morroccan director Faouzi Bensaidi, on the 6,000 Euro prize from ARTE in France. Aside from the DIFF itself, there are numerous other activities all being ably managed by Shivani Pandya, Managing Director. These concurrent events have commanded great interest. The Co-Production Market run by Jane Williams, formerly with Binger Institut of Amsterdam, Hubert Bals Fund and the Rotterdam Cinemart is showing three works in progress including the Sundance FF 2009 Competition film 'Amreeka' by Cherien Dabis plus a list of other films in various stages of development. Working with Julie Bergeron of the Cannes Market Co-Production Market, the Co-Production Market is opening the doors between East and West in a notably winning style made possible to the warm hospitality of the people of Dubai. The Film Market where you can see every film in the festival plus more in a virtual on-demand video market has made its first deal with Alchemy Films picking up the South African feature ' Mr. Bones 2' for the Middle East. 'Mr Bones' producer, Anant Singh, also a favorite son of Los Angeles as well as of South Africa, is in Dubai with the international premiere of the documentary 'More Than Just a Game'. The Dubai Film Market, run by Zaid Yaghi is built on the model of IDFA's documentary market run by Fred De Haas who also manages the Documentary Market at IDFA. Tom Davia, Head of Programme Administration and Film Services also works with the Miami Film Festival. Other attendees here inlcude Thierry Lenouvel whose film 'Rachel' will be in the Berlinale 2009, Filmmaker Magazine and Forensic Films' Scott Maccaulay, Nadia Saah of New York, whose new company Boomgen Studios creates content and, most importantly, creates niche marketing and distribution for films with Middle Eastern content, Iran's M. Mehdi Yadegan of IRIM Media Trade, the largest TV station in the Middle East, producer Caroline Benjo of Haut et Court, international sales agents Pascal Diot of Onoma Films and Wouter Barendrecht of Fortissimo, Raphael Berdugo of Roissy, who is also a producer of 'Caramel', a Lebanese film which was in the Festival de Cannes and has been a great box office success in Lebanon. And, of course, FilmFinders is here seeing what new developments in the Middle East are being created in this time of great change in our film industry.

Bangkok -- The Dubai International Film Festival on Friday gave its Muhr Arabic Feature Best Film award to "Masquerades" from Algerian actor-director Lyes Salem.

"Masquerades," about a cocky villager who pretends to have found a suitor for his headstrong and narcoleptic sister, also took home the Fipresci award from the International Federation of Film Critics.

The Muhr award for best feature from the Diff's Asia-Africa section went to "Treeless Mountain," a film inspired by the childhood of South Korean director Kim So-yong, in which two young sisters find security and love in the countryside despite the harsh treatment of an alcoholic aunt.

The festival also awarded prizes for best screenplay, talent, composer and director in the features category and prizes for the best short films and documentaries from the Arab World, Africa and Asia. A full list of winners is available at the Diff Web site.

Diff drew 47,500 moviegoers to...

Founded in 1988, the European Film Academy currently unites 1,850 European film professionals with the common aim of promoting Europe’s film culture. Their annual awards will be December 8 in Copenhagen. ACE (Ateliers de Cinema Europeanne) which operates out of France and is a network of producers in the process of developing scripts, which become the films everyone loves at festivals, has 12 producers in the network who have received European Film Awards Nominations. Congratulations to ACE producers for their nominations at the 2008 European Film Awards and… good luck! WALTZ WITH BASHIR by Ari Folman, produced by Roman Paul (ACE producer / Razor Film Produktion): Nominated for European Film, European Director, European Screenwriter & European Composer categories. THE CLASS by Laurent Cantet, produced by Carole Scotta (ACE producer / Haut & Court) & Caroline Benjo (Haut & Court): Nominated for European Film & European Director categories. LEMON TREE by Eran Riklis, produced by Bettina Brokemper (ACE producer / Heimatfilm GmbH): Nominated for European Actress & European Screenwriter categories. WOLKE 9 by Andreas Dresen, produced by Peter Rommel (ACE producer / Rommel Film e.K): Nominated for European Director & European Actress categories. MOSCOW, BELGIUM by Christophe Van Rompaey, produced by Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem (ACE producer / A Private view): Nominated for European Composer category. DELTA by Kornel Mundruzco, produced by Viktoria Petranyi (ACE producer / Evolution Films): Nominated for European Film Academy Prix d’Excellence 2008

Also 10 ACE producers’ films are among the 67 vying for the 2008 nominations for 2007 Best Foreign Language Oscar. ALGERIA: MASQUERADES by Lyes Salem, produced by Isabelle Madelaine (Dharamsala, FR) BELGIUM: ELDORADO by Bouli Lanners, produced by Jacques-Henri Bronckart (Versus Production, BE) and Jerôme Vidal (Noodles Production, FR) ESTONIA: I WAS HERE by René Vilbre, produced by Riina Sildos (Amrion Oü, EST) and Aleksi Bardy (Helsinki Filmi, FI) FRANCE: THE CLASS by Laurent Cantet, produced by Carole Scotta & Caroline Benjo (Haut & Court, FR) ISRAEL: WALTZ WITH BASHIR by Ari Folman, produced by Roman Paul (Razor Film Produktion, DE) KAZAKHSTAN: TULPAN by Sergey Dvortsevoy, co-produced by Thanassis Karathanos (Twenty Twenty Vision / Pallas Film, DE) LATVIA: DEFENDERS OF RIGA by Aigars Grauba, produced by Andrejs Ekis (Plat Forma Filma, LET) - Developed at the ACE Workshop! MACEDONIA: I’M FROM TITOV VELES by Teona Strugar Mitevska, co-produced by Diana Elbaum (Entre Chien et Loup, BE) THE NETHERLANDS: DUNYA & DESIE by Dana Nechushtan, co-produced by Joost de Vries (Lemming Film, NL) and Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem (A Private View, BE) SWEDEN: EVERLASTING MOMENTS by Jan Troell, co-produced by Christer Nilson (GötaFilm, SE), Sigve Endresen, (Motlys AS, NO) and Tero Kaukomaa (Blind Spot Pictures, FI)

3 ACE producers’ films have been nominated for France’s prestigious Louis Delluc Award. THE CLASS by Laurent Cantet, Palme d’Or 2008, produced by Carole Scotta & Caroline Benjo (Haut et Court, FR), SERAPHINE by Martin Provost, produced by Milena Poylo and Gille Sacuto (TS Productions, FR) and VERSAILLES by Pierre Schoeller, produced by Philippe Martin (Les Films Pelléas, FR) are nominated for the 2008 Louis Delluc Prize.

And finally The Class by Laurent Cantet has hit a record 1.5+ admissions in France.