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Cairo - Egypt | Monday, January 28, 2019:
With 14 new film critics this year, 76 film critics from all over the
world started viewing Arab feature and documentary films produced in
2018 on Festival Scope to nominate films and filmmakers for the
3rd Annual Critics Awards, organized by the Arab Cinema Center (ACC).
The winners will be announced during the next edition of the Cannes Film
Festival.
Film Analyst Alaa Karkouti, Managing Partner of the Arab Cinema
Center (ACC) and CEO of MAD Solutions, comments on the new edition,
saying, "We couldn't be more proud that the Annual Critics Awards now
brings highly-regarded names from all over the world together each year.
We are very pleased that this has become a main annual occasion for
celebrating the Arab film industry."
Film Critic Ahmed Shawky,Manager of the Critics Awards, says,
"The Annual Critics Awards initiative is taking bigger steps toward
supporting Arab films everywhere. With each passing year, more important
critics from different countries join the jury, which guarantees that
the best Arab films will be featured in international media. Seventy six
film critics from thirty three countries is a huge number that indicates
the value of this independent initiative. We can't thank each and every
single film critic enough for agreeing to give us their time and effort
to participate in the jury committee."
Published by the Arab Cinema Center (ACC), the new issue of the Arab
Cinema Magazine will feature an entire section covering everything about
the 3rd Annual Critics Awards and the film critics.
The 1st Annual Critics Awards was held on the sidelines of the
70th Cannes Film Festival. The awards are given to the best Arab film
productions every year in the following categories: Best Feature Film,
Best Documentary Film, Best Director, Best Writer, Best Actress and Best
Actor. For the first time in the history of Arab cinema, the jury brings
together 76 of the most prominent Arab and international film critics
from 33 countries from all over the world this year.
The final nominees for the Critics Awards were selected according to the
following criteria: the films must have been premiered at international
film festivals outside of the Arab world during 2018, and at least one
of the production companies must be Arab (regardless of the size of its
contribution to the production of the film). In addition, the films must
be feature-length films (fiction or documentary).
List of film critics appointed for nominating and selecting the winners
of the Annual Critics Awards (in alphabetical order):
Abdelkarim Ouakrim | Morocco, Abdelkrim Kadri| Algeria, Abdul Sattar
Naji | Kuwait, Ahmed Shawky | Egypt, Ali Wajeeh | Syria, Alin TAŞÇIYAN |
Turkey, Amal El Gamal | Egypt, Amber Wilkinson | UK, Ana Maria Bahiana |
Brazil, USA, Andrew Mohsen | Egypt, Ásgeir H Ingólfsson | Iceland, Czech
Republic, Bojidar Stefanov Manov | Bulgaria, Carmen Gray | New Zealand,
UK, Chris Newbould | UK, UAE, Deborah Young | USA, Djia
Mambu| Belgium, Dragan Rubesa | Croatia, Emad El Nouwairy |
Kuwait, Erfan Rashid | Iraq, Italy, Essam Zakaria | Egypt, Fionnuala
Halligan |UK, Gautaman Bhaskaran | India, Giona A. Nazzaro |
Switzerland, Hammadi Gueroum| Morocco, Harri Römpötti | Finland, Hassan
Haddad | Bahrain, Hassouna Mansouri | Tunisia, Hauvick Habéchian |
Lebanon, Houda Ibrahim | Lebanon, France, Husam Asi | Palestine,
UK, Ibrahim Alariss | Lebanon, Ibrahim Haj Abdi | Syria, Ida Madsen
Hestman | Norway, Ikbal Zalila | Tunisia, Jay Weissberg | USA, Jim
Quilty | Canada, Beirut, Kadhum Saloom| Iraq, Kais Kassem | Iraq,
Sweden, Kaleem Aftab | UK, Khaled Mahmoud | Egypt, Khalid Ali |
Sudan/UK, Khalil Demmoun| Morocco, Kiva Reardon | Canada, Lamia Guiga |
Tunisia, Magdy Eltayeb | Egypt, Mahmoud Mahdy | Egypt, Massimo Lechi |
Italy, Mohamed Atef | Egypt, Mohamed Benaziz | Morocco, Mohammed
Bougalleb | Tunisia, Mohammed Chouika | Morocco, Mohamed Hashem |
Egypt, Mohammed Rouda | Lebanon, Nabil Hadji | Algeria, Nadim Jarjoura |
Lebanon, Nageh Hassan | Jordan, Narjes Torchani | Tunisia, Ola Kamel
Al-Sheikh | Palestine, UAE, Ola Shafey | Egypt, Olivier Barlet |
France, Ossama Abdel Fattah | Egypt, Pamela Biénzobas | Chile,
France, Pamela Hutchinson | UK, Peter Stuart Robinson| UK,
Canada, Pragya Mishra | UK, Rachid Naim | Morocco, Ramy Abd El Razek |
Egypt, Rasha Hosny | Egypt, Rja Sair Al-Mtyry | Saudi Arabia, Ronnit
Hasson | Sweden, Safaa Jibara Al-saleh| Iraq, UK, Sydney J. Levine |
USA, Tarek Ben Chaabane | Tunisia, Tarek El Shinnawi | Egypt, Youssef
Cherif Rizkallah | Egypt, Ziad Khuzai| Iraq.
Organized by MAD Solutions, the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) celebrates its
fifth year since its inception in 2015. A non-profit organization
registered in Amsterdam, ACC is an international promotional platform
for Arab cinema as it provides the filmmaking industry with a
professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the
world through a number of events that it organizes. ACC also provides
networking opportunities with representatives of companies and
institutions specialized in co-production and international
distribution, among others. ACC's activities vary between film market
main wings, introduction and networking sessions for Arab and foreign
filmmakers, welcome parties, as well as meetings with international
organizations and festivals, and the issuance of Arab Cinema Magazine to
be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets.
Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on ACC's website,
allowing users to obtain digital copies of Arab Cinema Magazine, as well
as news on ACC's activities, notifications of application dates for
grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions,
updates on Arab films participating at festivals, exclusive news on Arab
Cinema LAB, and highlights from ACC's partners and their future
projects.
ACC also launched an English-language Arab Cinema Guide, available on
its website, which is a comprehensive cinematic guide that comprises a
variety of tools presented collectively for the first time to offer
information on Arab cinema to filmmakers inside and outside of the Arab
world. It also aims to facilitate filmmakers' access to international
markets and help film industry representatives to easily identify Arab
film productions.
The Arab Cinema Center announced the launch of the MAD 3ARABI (Arab
Flow) in Prague, Czech Republic. The festival aims to introduce the Arab
culture and focus on the film and TV industry, flowing Arab
entertainment and culture onto European shores, and also providing an
extension for Arab filmmakers and content creators in the entertainment
industry to reach new shores. |
