And no, I’m not talking about the bustling Souq Waqif on the eve of Ramadan!
Read MoreThe Qumra class of 2024, captured in the courtyard of the Museum of Islamic Art
Mati Diop © Dirk Michael Deckbar, courtesy of the Berlinale 2024
A Berlinale Wrap Up: Dying, Doubt and a well deserved Diop win
There were a lot of themes at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival and some resonated deeply with me, as the world tries to wade through the perils of certainty — those who think they always know better.
Read More
A still of Cillian Murphy in ‘Small Things Like These’ © Shane O’Connor
Berlinale Dispatch: Cillian Murphy goes from the explosive 'Oppenheimer' to 'Small Things Like These'
And it’s a good thing. A very, very good thing.
Read More
Hala Matar's 'Electra' world premieres, at this year's Santa Barbara IFF
And is worth a watch.
Read More
Mariëtte Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian announcing this year’s Competition & Encounters line up on Monday
All the latest Berlinale titles added to Competition and Encounters
While many of us may be concentrating on the awards announcements, the Berlin Film Festival reminds us where it all starts from, and why these worldwide events are so important. Dare I say, more than the awards…
Read More
‘Gokogu no Neko’ (The Cats of Gokogu Shrine) by Kazuhiro Soda
Peace-building, great discoveries, tigers and temple cats among highlights of 2024 Berlinale
With the Competition titles still to be announced, the Berlin Film Festival is already showing some great bridge building colors, as well as panache, good taste and humor. And a film that starts out being about cats, but turns into so much more...
Read More
Berlinale announces new festival director, some Forum film titles and a whole lot more
Every year in cinema calendars February belongs to the Berlin International Film Festival, and this year it will be extra special, as the upcoming edition marks the last one with Carlo Chatrian as Artistic Director.
Read More
A historic first prize for Moroccan cinema, at this year's Marrakech Film Festival
After all was said and done, there were no losers at this year’s Marrakech International Film Festival, where audiences got a free taste of great cinema and Moroccan films made history.
Read More
Marrakech Atlas Workshops announces 25 projects participating in upcoming 6th edition
The films — hailing from 11 countries with 11 helmed by women filmmakers — include the highly anticipated ‘Motherhood’ by Meryam Joobeur, Tunisian filmmaker Ala Eddine Slim’s next project, and Erige Sehiri’s follow up to her critically acclaimed ‘Under the Fig Trees’.
Read More
Marrakech Film Festival to open with Richard Linklater’s 'Hit Man'
Plus, the official film selection is announced for the highly anticipated 20th edition of the festival which will take place from November 24th to December 2nd.
Read More
Mostafa Farooki, Pedro Almodóvar and Bradley Cooper titles announced for upcoming Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival
The festival released its program announcement on Monday, which will feature 250 plus films in more than 70 languages, over 70 countries, 20 screens, 8 venues, a state-of-the-art festival hub (NMACC), and a great number of women directors, with over 70 films. Mira Nair will head the South Asia Competition jury.
Read More
Photo courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
All the winners of the 80th Venice International Film Festival, and some unsolicited personal opinion...
Clearly it was a man’s world last night in Venice, as the winners of the Film Festival were announced. Including a very masculine take on being a woman, which snatched the coveted Golden Lion.
Read More
Photo courtesy of the Vilnius International Film Festival
The Vilnius International Film Festival: Doing things totally different this year
The 26th edition of the Vilnius International Film Festival has been taking place from March 18 through to April 4, 2021. The festival this year reinvented itself in these times of pandemic so it has taken place in the Lithuanian capital’s six top hotels. And, for couch potatoes, also online. Its program brings recently awarded festival hits and some of Lithuania’s best features and shorts into people’s homes. Or hotel rooms.
Read More
The poster for this edition of FIFDH is based on an image by American photographer Jack Howard
"Embracing the world with both hands": The Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights
These are unprecedented times and they call for courage and action. And it seems that the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights possesses a heavy dose of both.
The festival will take place this year from March 5th to the 14th and will feature films, talks, art events and in-depth conversations with distinguished guests on everything from racism to migration, with a heavy dose of pandemic response and the consequences of our global lockdowns thrown in.
Read More
Katara Opera House on the opening night of Ajyal Film Festival in Doha, Qatar
Doha's Ajyal Film Festival Opening Night: We may be socially distanced but our cinematic hearts beat as one!
This year, the Doha Film Institute has managed to put together a hybrid online and in person (for Qatari residents only) version of its annual Ajyal Film Festival dedicated to young audience and there was even a red carpet last night and an opening ceremony. I’m sharing the video of the latter below.
Read More
A still from Iran’s submission to the Oscars, ‘Sun Children’ by Majid Majidi
Doha's Ajyal Film Festival: Erasing some of the common borders of the Middle East, for a youth centric audience
I’ve long been a fan of everything that the Doha Film Institute has to offer. Their Qumra event is a phenomenal way to witness how filmmakers go about constructing their films, from pre-production to grants and securing funding to finish their projects. For a culture journalist, it’s a valuable way to experience, quite literally, how cinema is made.
But personally, the event that remains near and dear to my heart is always the Ajyal Film Festival.
Read More
Photograph courtesy of the Pordenone Silent Film Festival
Le Giornate del Cinema Muto I Pordenone Silent Film Festival announces 39th edition, online
There is no more perfect time to watch silent films than the present. Apart from the intimacy and preciousness of the art form, which is the great-grandfather of modern day blockbusters, these days the era from which a lot of those movies come from can provide both a guide and inspiration to move forward.
Read More
A still from ‘Mirrors of Diaspora’ by Kasim Abid
Cinema with a Conscience: The Independent Iraqi Film Festival kicks off August 21st, free & online
When we think of Iraq these days, we hardly think of poetry, art and cinema. It’s a land that evokes visions of war and destruction, not the land of the iconic architecture of Mesopotamia anymore.
But living around the world, making up the diaspora from the Region, there are quite a few wonderfully creative Iraqis who continue to provide humanity with the beauty of their work. Among them, personally I can name at least two — both dear friends and wonderful innovators. And one of those happens to be Shahnaz Dulaimy.
Read More
Five films, and much more, to watch at this edition of the New Zealand International Film Festival
Going forward, if we’re going to learn anything about the pandemics and how to handle them, it’s going to come from New Zealand. And in the film festival world, if we’re going to find a way to move forward, it will also come from this edition of the New Zealand International Film Festival, under the direction of Marten Rabarts.
Read More
Tribeca Enterprises' WE ARE ONE forms collaboration with world class festivals to screen films on YouTube
Born out of the ashes of 9/11, one of the most catastrophic events NYC ever experienced, the annual Tribeca Film Festival is something very near and dear to my heart.
So, when they announced yesterday WE ARE ONE A Global Film Festival, joining forces with the likes of the Festival de Cannes, Venice, Berlinale, Toronto, Tokyo and San Sebastian (for the full list read here) I was over the moon.
Read More