Two films by Egyptian directors Amir Ramses
and Mustafa Murad scored an Audience Award and a Special Mention respectively
at the Malmö Arab Film Festival (22-28 April, 2024).
The festival's closing ceremony took place
on Saturday evening, revealing the winning films.
Amir Ramses' film The Nose and Three Eyes
won the Audience Award in the Feature Film Competition.
The film is an adaptation of the Ihssan Abdel
koudos’s novel with the same title. The film examines the life of a man torn
between three women.
The film stars Dhafer L'abidine, Saba
Mubarak, Salma Abu Deif, and Amina Khalil.
The Nose and Three Eyes had its world
premiere at the third edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival
(RSIFF) as part of the festival’s Arab Spectacular program
Mustafa Murad’s I Promise You Paradise
received a Special Mention in the festival's Short Film Competition.
The film follows "Eissa, a 17-year-old
African migrant in Egypt, who strives to beat the clock to save his loved ones
whatever it takes," the synopsis reads. The film stars Kenyi Marcellno and
Kenzy Mohamed.
I Promise You Paradise won the Nikon
Discovery Award following its screening during the Critics Week at Cannes Film
Festival 2023, where it was also nominated to the Leitz Cine Discovery Prize. It
also scored awards at numerous other international festivals.
Malmö Arab Film Festival (MAFF), the largest
film festival focusing on Arab Cinema in Europe, closed its 14th edition on
Saturday.
This year, the official competition for
feature films included 12 films, while the short film competition included 14
films.
Renowned Egyptian filmmaker Khairy Beshara
was the festival's guest of honor.
The MAFF opened with the multi-award-winning
Sudanese film Goodbye Julia, while the Saudi film Hajjan closed the festival.
Source: Al-Ahram Online