Yomeddine takes top prize at Arab Cinema Awards

Capernaum and Of Fathers And Sons also honoured

by Amber Wilkinson

Yomeddine was named Best Film at the Arab Cinema Awards
Yomeddine was named Best Film at the Arab Cinema Awards Photo: Desert Highway Pictures

The Arab Cinema Centre announced the winners of its third Annual Critics Awards at a fringe event in Cannes last week.

Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawky won the award for Best Film for his directorial debut Yomeddine, which tells the story of a quirky road trip by a cured leper and a young orphan who stows away on his donkey cart. The Best director award went to Nadine Labaki's much-garlanded Lebanese film Capernaum, about a child who rebels against the life imposed on him.

The Best Documentary award went to Talal Derki, who embedded himself in a radical Islamic family to make Of Fathers And Sons.

Moroccan film Sofia was a double winner, taking home the Best Screenplay award for Meryem Benm'Barek and Maha Alemi named Best Actress for her role in the film that examines what happens when a girl gives birth out of wedlock. Mohamed Dhrif was named Best Actor for Dear Son (Weldi), for his portrayal of a father who discovers his son has been radicalised.

The awards were selected by an international jury of 75 critics and industry professionals from 34 countries.

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