This year’s edition of the awards focused on Arab-language films that premiered on the festival circuit outside of the Arab world in 2022.
Arab Cinema Center (ACC) has announced the winners of the seventh Critics Awards for Arab Films during a ceremony held during the 76th Cannes Film Festival in partnership with the IEFTA.
This year, the international jury panel, which encompassed 193 film critics from 72 countries, evaluated the nominated films using the Festival Scope digital platform — a partner of the ACC.
Iraq director Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji’s Hanging Gardens has been named Best Film, whereas Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan won a hat-trick of prizes including best actress for Lubna Azabal, best screenplay for Maryam Touzani-Nabil Ayouch and best cinematography for Virginie Surdej.
The editing award went to Valentin Féron for Tunisian thriller Ashkal, which also secured Youssef Chebbi the best director prize.
Adam Bessa won Best Actor for his role in Lofty Nathan’s Harka. The best documentary award went to Jumana Manna’s Foragers.
Organized by MAD Solutions in 2015, the ACC is a nonprofit organisation 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.
