Arab Cinema Center Announces Nominees for 8th Critics Awards at Cannes
Arab Cinema Center Announces Nominees for 8th Critics Awards at Cannes. The Arab Cinema Center (ACC) has unveiled the final list of nominations for the eighth edition of the Critics Awards for Arab Films, with the winners set to be announced at a special ceremony on May 18th during this year's Cannes Film Festival.
This year's nominees, selected from all Arab films produced and premiered outside the Arab World in the calendar year 2023, will be voted on by an unprecedented jury committee comprising 209 critics from 72 countries around the globe.
Adding to the anticipation, this year's event will introduce a new category, Best Short Film, joining existing categories such as Best Feature Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Screenwriter, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Music.
Commenting on the upcoming awards, Deborah Young, Manager of the Critics Awards for Arab Films, expressed her excitement, stating, "Another year, another Critics Awards for Arab Films that’s bigger than the last one! For the eighth version of this most auspicious event, we’re celebrating films from all over the region, including Sudan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and an exciting Arab story from France this time around as well!"
"As usual, these films are the cream of the crop and have done the rounds in the festival circuit throughout last year, and some of them are still going strong this year. For this year’s edition, we’re also adding yet another category, Best Short Film, as part of our constant desire to cover all of the bases and talents of the pan-Arab cinema industry. Once again, I’d like to extend my gratitude to our jury members for the time and effort they’ve dedicated to these awards, and we look forward to working with them again next year," she added.
Sharing in the excitement, ACC Co-Founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab expressed their gratitude for the success of the Critics Awards for Arab Films and its impact on elevating Arab cinema globally.
"We are even happier to announce the inclusion of the long-awaited Best Short Film Award, which is long overdue, but better late than never, as they say. It is our hope that with every edition of these awards, we’ll be able to expand their scope until they encompass every profession of this industry we hold dear and go to great lengths to champion," they added.
The final list of nominees includes:
Best Feature Film:
- GOODBYE JULIA | Mohamed Kordofani | Sudan
- INSHALLAH A BOY | Amjad Al-Rasheed | Jordan
- HAJJAN | Abu Bakr Shawky | Saudi Arabia
- THE TEACHER | Farah Nabulsi | Palestine
- THE BURDENED | Amr Gamal | Yemen
Best Director:
- Mohamed Kordofani | GOODBYE JULIA | Sudan
- Kaouther Ben Hania | FOUR DAUGHTERS | Tunisia
- Karim Bensalah | SIX FEET OVER | France
- Asmae ElMoudir | THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES | Morocco
- Amjad Al-Rasheed | INSHALLAH A BOY | Jordan
Best Screenplay:
- Mohamed Kordofani | GOODBYE JULIA | Sudan
- Amr Gamal, Mazen Refaat | THE BURDENED | Yemen
- Kamal Al-Azrak | HOUNDS | Morocco
- Delphine Agut, Rula Nasser, Amjad Al-Rasheed | INSHALLAH A BOY | Jordan
- Omar Shama, Mufarrij Almajfel, Abu Bakr Shawky | HAJJAN | Saudi Arabia
Best Actress:
- Mouna Hawa | INSHALLAH A BOY | Jordan
- Eiman Yousif | GOODBYE JULIA | Sudan
- Hend Sabry | KIRA & EL GIN | Egypt
- Hend Sabry | FOUR DAUGHTERS | Tunisia
- Adwa Bader | NAGA | Saudi Arabia
Best Actor:
- Ibrahim Al-Hasawi | HAJJAN | Saudi Arabia
- Majd Mastoura | FOUR DAUGHTERS | Tunisia
- Ayoub Elaid | HOUNDS | Morocco
- Saleh Bakri | THE TEACHER | Palestine
- Nazar Goma | GOODBYE JULIA | Sudan
Best Documentary:
- FOUR DAUGHTERS | Kaouther Ben Hania | Tunisia
- THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES | Asmae ElMoudir | Morocco
- Q | Jude Chehab | Lebanon
- UNDER THE SKY OF DAMASCUS | Talal Derki, Heba Khaled, Ali Wajeeh | Syria
- LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL | Mohamed Jabaly | Palestine
Best Short Film:
- I PROMISE YOU PARADISE | Morad Mostafa | Egypt
- LES CHENILLES | Noel Keserwany, Michelle Keserwany | Lebanon
- THE RED SEA MAKES ME WANNA CRY | Faris Alrjoob | Jordan
- SEA SALT | Leila Basma | Lebanon
- THE KEY | Rakan Mayasi | Palestine
Best Music:
- Amine Bouhafa | HAJJAN | Saudi Arabia
- Amine Bouhafa | FOUR DAUGHTERS | Tunisia
- Mazen Hamid | GOODBYE JULIA | Sudan
- Omar Fadel | NAGA | Saudi Arabia
- Alex Baranowski | THE TEACHER | Palestine
Best Cinematography:
- Farouk Laâridh | FOUR DAUGHTERS | Tunisia
- Kanamé Onoyama | INSHALLAH A BOY | Jordan
- Gilles Porte | THE TEACHER | Palestine
- Gerry Vasbenter | HAJJAN | Saudi Arabia
- Ahmad Al Morsy | KIRA & EL GIN | Egypt
Best Editing:
- Ahmed Hafez | INSHALLAH A BOY | Jordan
- Heba Othman | GOODBYE JULIA | Sudan
- Fahd Ahmed | Q | Lebanon
- Sarah Peczek | HAJJAN | Saudi Arabia
- Qutaiba Barhamji | FOUR DAUGHTERS | Tunisia
The first Critics Awards for Arab Films was held on the sidelines of the 70th Cannes Film Festival. The final list of nominees for the Critics Awards for Arab Films was curated according to the following criteria: The films must have premiered at international film festivals outside of the Arab World during 2023, at least one of the production companies must be Arab (regardless of the size of its contribution to the production of the film).
Organized by MAD Solutions in 2015, the ACC is a nonprofit organization registered in Amsterdam and is an international promotional platform for Arab cinema, providing the Arab filmmaking industry with a professional window to connect with its counterparts from all over the world through a number of events that it organizes.
The ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialized in co-production and international distribution, among others. The ACC's activities vary between film markets, stands, and pavilions, networking sessions and one-on-one meetings bringing together Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, as well as meetings with international organizations and festivals, and the issuance of the Arab Cinema Magazine to be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets.
Furthermore, a newsletter subscription is now available on the ACC's website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of the Arab Cinema Magazine, as well as news on the 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 the Arab Cinema LAB, and highlights from the ACC's partners and their future projects.
The ACC also launched an English-language Arab Cinema Guide, available on its website, which is a comprehensive cinematic guide that provides a variety of tools presented collectively for the first time to offer information on Arab cinema to filmmakers inside and outside the Arab world. It also aims to facilitate filmmakers' access to international markets and help film industry representatives easily identify Arab film productions.