Egypt wins big at the Annual Critics Awards

CAIRO – 24 May 2017: The Arab Cinema Center (ACC) announced the list of winners in its first Annual Critics Awards for the best Arab film achievements in 2016. The award ceremony was held on Sunday, May 21 in conjunction with the 70th Cannes Film Festival. The objective of the event is to encourage and promote the Arab cinema worldwide.

Award winners from Egypt included Mohamed Diab who received the awards for best screenplay and best director for his film “Eshtebak” (Clash). Diab’s film drew the attention of American actor Tom Hanks who sent a letter to the Egyptian director last year to congratulate him on the film.

In addition, Heba Ali won the Best Actress award for “Akhdar Yabes” (Withered Green). Egyptian filmmaker Tamer el-Said received the award for best film for the movie “Akher Ayam El-Madina” (The Last Days of the City).

Tunisia was also present at the awards as Majd Mastoura won the Best Actor award for his role in the film “Inhebek Hadi” (I love you, Hadi).

A jury of 24 of the most distinguished Arab and international film critics from 15 countries headed this year’s edition. The critics judged nine films which reached the final competition. These nine films were from Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

The selected films fall under the following categories: Best Film, Best Director, Best Writer, Best Actor, and Best Actress. The set criteria for selection includes premiering the films at international film festivals outside of the Arab world in 2016, having at least one Arab production company, and the films must be feature films (fiction or documentary).