The Arab Cinema Center announced the winners of the seventh Critics Awards for Arab Films on the sidelines of the 76th Cannes Film festival in France. Here are six of the awardees.
Best film
Iraqi film “Hanging Gardens” by debut director Ahmed Yassin Al-Daradji follows the life of a 12-year-old boy living as a rubbish picker in the dumps of Baghdad.Best actor
French Tunisian actor Adam Bessa, who played soldier Yaz Kahn in Chris Hemsworth-starring “Extraction,” won Best Actor for his role in “Harka.”Best actress
Lubna Azabal, a Belgian actress of Moroccan Spanish descent, won Best Actress for her role as Mina in filmmaker Maryam Touzani’s “The Blue Caftan.”Best director
Tunisian filmmaker Youssef Chebbi won the award for his film “Ashkal,” which centers on the investigation into the killing of a caretaker on a construction site in Carthage.Best screenplay
Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani and French Moroccan writer and director Nabil Ayouch took home the honor for their work on Moroccan film “The Blue Caftan.”Best cinematography
Taking another win for Morocco’s “The Blue Caftan” was Polish cinematographer Virginie Surdej, known for other works like “Syria” and “Casablanca Beats.”
