This year, the Arab Cinema Center has appointed American film critic Deborah Young as the Manager of the Critics' Awards for Arab Films.
Arab Cinema Center (ACC), an international promotional platform for Arab cinema, founded by MAD Solutions, has announced the final list of nominees for the fourth edition of the Critics’ Awards for Arab Films, an event that will bring together 142 film critics from 57 countries under its jury committee. The critics have viewed Arab feature and documentary films produced in 2019 on Festival Scope. The jury is currently voting to select the best in each category. The winners will be announced during the upcoming edition of the Virtual Cannes Market (June 22-26).
This year, the Arab Cinema Center has appointed American film critic Deborah Young as the Manager of the Critics’ Awards for Arab Films. Based in Italy, Young graduated with honours from Wellesley College and received an M.A. in Cinema Studies from New York University. She served as the Artistic Director of the Taormina Film Festival for five years before leaving to become the International Film Editor of the Hollywood Reporter. Last year, Deborah received the Achievement Award for Film Critics in recognition of her inspiring career in film criticism.
Co-founders of ACC, Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, commented: “We’re proud to announce the fourth edition of the Critics’ Awards for Arab Films. Although we won’t be able to hold the reception in Cannes as usual, we’re happy that it shall continue as part of the festival in its virtual edition this year.”
“We are also thrilled to announce Deborah Young as the newly appointed Manager of the Critics Awards for Arab Films for the next two years before another film critic takes over for another two-year term. We would like to thank TV personality Raya Abirached for adding her unique touch to this year’s Critics’ Awards for Arab Films by revealing its final nominees.” Karkouti and Diab said.
The Final List of Nominees are:
Best Documentary:
143 Rue Du Desert | Directed by Hassen Ferhani | Algeria
Talking About Trees | Directed by Suhaib Gasmelbari | Sudan
For Sama | Directed by Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts| Syria
Best Actress:
Lubna Azabal | Adam | Morocco
Nissrine Erradi | Adam | Morocco
Hend Sabry | Noura’s Dream | Tunisia
Best Actor:
Elia Suleiman | It Must Be Heaven | Palestine
Sami Bouajila | A Son | Tunisia
Abdullah Miniawy | Tlamess | Egypt
Best Screenplay:
Amjad Abu Alala, Yousef Ibrahim | You Will Die At Twenty | Sudan
Elia Suleiman | It Must Be Heaven | Palestine
Mehdi Barsaoui | A Son | Tunisia
Best Director:
Elia Suleiman | It Must Be Heaven | Palestine
Ala Eddine Slim | Tlamess | Tunisia
Maryam Touzani | Adam | Morocco
Best Film:
Adam | Director: Maryam Touzani | Morocco
It Must Be Heaven | Director: Elia Suleiman | Palestine
You Will Die At Twenty | Director: Amjad Abu Alala | Sudan
The final list of the nominees for the Critics’ Awards for Arab Films 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).
