Prestigious panel set to preside over the 2017 Muhr Awards

CAIRO – 7 December 2017: A prestigious panel of Arab talent is set to preside over the Muhr Awards of the 14th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival, which runs from December 6 until December 13.

The awards are made up of four categories: Muhr Emirati, Muhr Features, Muhr Short and Muhr Gulf Short.

Amongst some of the famous names included are acclaimed Egyptian director Magdi Ahmed Ali, who is best known for his prestigious accomplishments in contemporary Egyptian cinema. Several of his films include “Ya Donya ya Gharamy” (Life, My Love), “Girls' Secrets” and more recently “Mawlana” in 2016. Ali will be joined in the Muhr Emirati jury by Bahraini writer Fareed Ramadan and Emirati director Hani al-Shaibani.



The Muhr feature jury panel includes Egyptian director Ahmad Abdalla, who joins Palestinian filmmaker Raed Andoni. Andoni’s 2017 film “Ghost Hunting” was part of the 39th Cairo International Film Festival and received the Saad el-din Wahba Award for Best Arabic Film. Together they judge the competition alongside German actress Martina Gedeck, Iranian actress Sahar Dolatshahi, and French film director Dominique Cabrera.

Abdalla is a prolific director of over 20 films and boasts numerous awards to his name, having debuted with 2009’s “Heliopolis,” a film that is credited with helping to kick-start Egypt’s independent new-wave cinema.



Cabrera has worked on over 50 projects throughout her career, especially in the film festival circuits, having received much praise for her 2004's drama “Folle Embellie,” which won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The final jury is for both the Muhr Short and Gulf Short competitions, which is run by French short film director Gilles Marchand. He is best known for 2003’s “Qui a tue Bambi?” (Who Killed Bambi?), which was nominated for the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival. Other members of the panel include Tunisian director Mehdi M. Barsaoui, who won last year’s Muhr Short category award and Saudi actress Ahd Kamel, who was part of Haifaa al-Mansour’s “Wadjda” (2012).