Gaza Mon Amour takes top prize in the Critics Awards for Arab Films

Romantic drama's Abbass named best actress

by Amber Wilkinson

Salim Dau and Hiam Abbas in Gaza Mon Amour
Salim Dau and Hiam Abbas in Gaza Mon Amour

Gaza Mon Amour has be named the best film at the fifth edition of the Critics Awards for Arab Films.

The film, directed by twin Palestinian brothers Arab and Tarzan Nasser, sees a fisherman (Salim Daw) attempt to woo a seamstress, played by Hiam Abbass, who picked up the best actress accolade in the awards, which are voted on by 160 critics from 63 countries.

200 Meters
200 Meters
Ameen Nayfeh won the best director award for 200 Meters, about a man who is separated from his family by Israel's West Bank Barrier, and his lead, Ali Suliman, was named best actor.

The best screenplay gong went to Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania for his Oscar-nominated The Man Who Sold His Skin, which considers the "commodification of a Syrian refugee.

Lift Like A Girl, a fly-on-the-wall study of an Egyptian weightlifting training gym, directed by Mayye Zayed won best documentary.

The awards were presented by the Arab Cinema Center, which created the initiative, during Cannes.

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