All you need to know about Malmö Arab Film Festival’s closing ceremony

CAIRO - 9 October 2019: The ninth edition of Malmö Arab Film Festival came to an end after a successful session.

The Egyptian film “Lail Khargy” for director Ahmed Abdallah al-Saeed won the Best Feature Film Award. The award is the biggest prize granted by the festival and totals up to SEK 20,000. The film’s leading stars, Sherif el-Desouki and Mona Hala, received the award in front of an audience that filled the Royal Cinema, Sweden's largest cinema.

The judging panel of the feature films competition consisted of Egyptian star Laila Elwi, Iraqi critic Qais Qassem and Tunisian director Reda Bahi granted the Lebanese film director Bahig Hagig the Best Director Award for his film “Sabah el-Kheir”. The film "Mafak" by Palestinian director Bassam Jarbawi won the Best Screenplay Award.

Additionally, Tunisian star Ahmed el-Hafiane won the Best Actor Award for his role in the film “Fatwa” directed by Mahmoud bin Mahmoud and Moroccan Fatima Atef won the Best Actress Award for her role in "Mbarka" by Mohamed Zinedine.

MAFF 9th edition - Official website
In the short films category, the jury, composed of Palestinian producer Layali Badr, critics Walid Seif from Egypt and Nabil Hajji from Algeria, granted the Best Short Film Award (SEK 10,000) for "Ikhwan" directed by Tunisian Mariam Jaber. Her fellow countrywoman Kawthar Bin Haniyeh won the Best Director of a Short Film Award worth SEK 5,000 for her movie "Batikh el-Sheikh".

The committee gave a special mention to the movie "Al-Asfoor" directed by Nasri Hajjaj from Palestine.

As for the Long Documentary Films, the judging panel, composed of director Mai Masri, critic Tarek bin Shaaban and director of the Tripoli Film Festival Elias Khalat, granted the Best Documentary Film Award worth of SEK 15,000 to Ghassan Halawani’s Lebanese film.

Sarah Qasqas, also from Lebanon, won the Best Director Award for a Feature Documentary for her film "Taht el-Taht.” The judging committee also gave a special mention to the Sudanese film "Oufsad el-Khartoum" by director Marwa Zain.

Moreover, the Public Choice Award, presented by the Culture Office in Malmö, went to the Egyptian film "El-Deif" (The Guest) by Hadi el-Bagoury.

Members of the judging committee of the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Nahar, critics Adnan Hussein Ahmed, Mustafa Kaoud and Marwa Abu Aish, granted their award to the film “Mafak” directed by Palestine's Bassam Jarbawi.

Following the awards granting ceremony, the Egyptian film "Youm wa Laila” directed by Ayman Makram, screened. The film stars Khaled el-Nabawi, Dora, Ahmad el-Fishawi and Hanan Mutawa.

Famed star Dora came with director Ayman Makram, writer Yahya Fikri and producer Raymond Ramses to present the film in its first international premiere in Malmo, Sweden to the audience, who filled the auditorium.