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visibility and a tribute to european films in the arab world

A total of 22 European films, including nine Oscar submissions to be considered for Best International Feature Film, are competing for the Arab Critics' Awards for European Films, which is jointly hosted by European Film Promotion (EFP) and the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) for the six time.

All of the 22 films which were nominated by EFP’s members, the national film promotion institutes from throughout Europe, have premiered or screened at leading international film festivals, winning several awards. They include films such as, Loveable by Lilja Ingolfsdottir from Norway (Special Jury Prize, Best Actress / Helga Guren, Grand Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Fipresci Award / Karlovy Vary International Film Festival), Three Days of a Fish by Peter Hoogendoorn from The Netherlands (Best Actor Award / Karlovy Vary International Film Festival) or The Village Next to Paradise by Mo Harawe (Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress / Anab Ahmed Ibrahim / Sarajevo Film Festival) from Austria. Nine of the nominated films have been submitted to be considered for Best International Feature Film, e.g. Julie Keeps Quiet by Leonardo van Dijl (Belgium), Waves by Jiri Madl (Czech Republic), The Girl with the Needle by Magnus von Horn (Denmark), 8 Views of Lake Biwa by Marko Raat (Estonia), The Seed of The Sacred Fig by Mohammad Rasoulof (Germany), Semmelweis by Lajos Koltai (Hungary), Flow by Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia), Family Therapy by Sonja Prosenc (Slovenia) and Reinas by Klaudia Reynicke (Switzerland).

Click here for the full list of nominated films

89 of the most prominent and influential Arab film critics from 15 Arab-speaking countries will decide on three favourites before announcing the winning film during the El Gouna Film Festival (24 October - 1 November).

"We are extremely grateful to the Arab film critics and journalists who watch a fine selection of 22 films from 22 different European countries. And we appreciate the opportunity to make these films visible in the Arab world, thanks to the collaboration with the Arab Cinema Center and to the El Gouna Film Festival who hosts the Award Ceremony for the final winner", says EFP Managing Director Sonja Heinen.

ACC co-founders and managing partners Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab expressed their excitement of yet another year of the Arab Critic’s Awards. "As always, it’s a great pleasure to join forces with EFP and GFF for the sixth year in a row, but it’s an even bigger pleasure to have the opportunity to once again, amplify European cinema through our very own Arab critics and continue to expand the horizons for European films and filmmakers in the Arab-speaking region."

The Arab film critics in alphabetical order:

Abdelkarim Ouakrim (Morocco), Abdelkrim Kadri (Algeria), Abdul Sattar Naji (Kuwait), Ahmed Sami (Egypt), Ahmed Gasmi (Egypt), Ahmed Al Ayyad (Saudi Arabia), Ahmed Ezzat (Egypt), Ahmed Abu El Fadl (Egypt), Ali Wajeeh (Syria), Aliaa Talaat (Egypt), Amal Magdy (Egypt), Amged Gamal (Egypt), Andrew Mohsen Naiem (Egypt), Areej Gamal (Egypt), Arwa Tageldeen (Egypt), Ayah Tantawy (Egypt), Azz El Deen El Ouafi (Morocco), Chafic Tabbara (Lebanon), Dalia Said Mostafa (Egypt), Diaa Mostafa (Egypt), Doha Elwardaney (Egypt), Erfan Rashid (Iraq), Essam Zakaria (Egypt), Fahad Alestsa (Saudi Arabia), Fayçal Chibani (Algeria), Feras Almadi (Saudi Arabia), Hammadi Gueroum (Morocco), Hassan Haddad (Bahrain), Hassouna Mansouri (Tunisia), Haytham Mofed (Egypt), Henda Haouala (Tunisia), Hind Mezaina (United Arab Emirates), Ho ssam Sayed (Egypt), Houda Ibrahim (France), Huda Jafar (Yameen), Husam Asi (Palestine), Ibrahim Haj Abdi (Syria), Ikbal Zalila (Tunisia), Kadhum El Saloum (Iraq), Kais Kassem (Iraq), Khaled Mahmoud (Egypt), Khalid Ali (Sudan), Khalil Demmoun (Morocco), Lama Tayara (Syria), Lama Gguiga (Tunisia), Magda Khirallah (Egypt), Mahdi Abbas (Iraq), Marwa Abueish (Egypt), Mohamed Allal (Algeria), Mohamed Atef (Egypt), Mohamed Tarek (Egypt), Mohamed Sayed Abdelrehim (Egypt), Mohamed Kamal (Egypt), Mohamed Elseginy (Egypt), Mohammed Benaziz (Morocco), Mohammed Chouika (Morocco), Mohammed Rouda (Lebanon), Nabil Hadji (Algeria), Nada Azhari (Syria), Nadim Jarjoura (Lebanon), Nageh Hassan (Jordan), Narjes Torchani (Tunisia), Neila Driss (Tunisia), Nidal Queshha (Syria), Obeid Altamimi (Saudi Arabia), Ola Shafey (Egypt), Ola Kamel Al-Sheikh (Palestine), Omnia Adel (Egypt), Ossama Abdel Fattah (Egypt), Rachid Naim (Morocco), Rahma Elhaddad (Egypt), Rami El-Metwaly (Egypt), Ramy Abd El Razek (Egypt), Safaa Elaisy (Egypt), Safaa Jibara Al-Saleh (Iraq), Saleem Albeik (Palestine), Samira Dami (Tunisia), Sayed Mohamoud (Egypt), Shaimaa Selim (Egypt), Sherif Thabet (Egypt), Taher Alwan (Iraq), Tarek Ben Chaabane (Tunisia), Tarek El Shinnawi (Egypt), Tariq Al Bahhar (Bahrain), Wael Khairy (Egypt), Yousra Chikhawi (Tunisia), Ziad Khuzai (Iraq)

Click here for the full list of the Arab film critics by country

The Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films was launched in 2019 by EFP and the ACC. It is a spin-off from the ACC’s well-established Critics' Awards to boost the diversity of films in the region and raise the interest of sales companies and the industry for outstanding European films. This initiative also wishes to cast a spotlight onto distinguished film critics from 15 Arab-speaking countries and their important role of introducing new perspectives and bridging cultural differences and characteristics. Previous winners included, God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya by Teona Strugar Mitevska (2019), Undine by Christian Petzold (2020), 107 Mothers by Peter Kerekes (2021), EO by Jerzy Skolimowski (2022) and Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismäki (2023).

The Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films is made possible thanks to the support of Creative Europe - the MEDIA Programme of the European Union.

Organised by MAD Solutions in 2015, the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) is a non-profit organisation registered in Berlin. The ACC is an international promotional platform for Arab cinema as it provides the filmmaking industry with a professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the world through a number of events that it organises. The ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialised in co-production and international distribution, among others. The ACC’s activities vary between film markets, stands, and pavilions, networking sessions, and one-to-one mee tings bringing together Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, as well as meetings with international organisations and festivals, and the publication of the Arab Cinema Magazine to be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets. Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on the ACC’s website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of the Arab Cinema Magazine as well as news on the ACC’s activities, notification of application dates for grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions, updates on Arab films participating at festivals, exclusive news on the Arab Cinema LAB, and highlights from the ACC’s partners and their future projects.

El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) was founded in 2017 with the mission to showcase a diverse range of films catering to a creative and well-versed audience. Designed for artists and filmmakers; GFF aspires to foster communication between cultures and filmmakers to benefit the industry and our region through the art of filmmaking, by connecting filmmakers from the region with their international counterparts in the spirit of cooperation and cultural exchange. The festival is dedicated to the discovery of new voices and strives to be a catalyst for the development of cinema in the Arab world, particularly through its industr y segment, CineGouna Platform.