Kaouther Ben Hania

ARAB FILMS : ‘PALESTINE 36’ leads Critics Awards for Arab Films nominations

Annemarie Jacir’s award-winning film “Palestine 36” leads the nominations for the 10th Critics Awards For Arab Films, which were announced on Wednesday.

The annual prizes, organized by the Arab Cinema Center, have been voted on by a record 307 Arab and international critics from 75 countries this year, with the awards ceremony due to take place during the Cannes Film Festival on May 16.

“Palestine 36” has been nominated in six categories including best film, director and screenplay. It is followed by Maryam Touzani’s “Calle Malaga” with five nominations; Cherien Dabis’ “All That’s Left of You” with four; and “Yunan,” “My Father’s Scent,” and “Once Upon a Time in Gaza” with three each.

Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-nominated “The Voice of Hind Rajab” garnered one nomination in the best director category.

“Palestine 36” is set during the 1936 Arab Revolt and follows five interconnected narratives as villages across Palestine confront British colonial rule.

With rising numbers of Jewish immigrants escaping antisemitism in Europe, and the Palestinian population uniting against Britain’s 30-year dominion, all sides spiral toward inevitable collision in a decisive moment for the British Empire and the future of the entire region.

“I hope people see themselves in the film,” she told Arab News in December last year. “I don’t want to teach anyone anything. There’s a lot of history in the film and there’s a lot of history that’s been erased. I hope that’s something that comes through.”

source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)

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Annemarie Jacir’s award-winning film “Palestine 36” leads the nominations for the 10th Critics Awards For Arab Films, which were announced on Wednesday. (Supplied)

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ARAB FILMS / PALESTINIAN

TUNISIA : Chanting ‘Free Palestine’: The Voice of Hind Rajab receives record ovation in Venice Film Festival

Following its screening, Kaouther Ben Hania’s film The Voice of Hind Rajab (2025) received a 22-minute-long standing ovation — the longest in the Venice Film Festival’s history – culminating in theatre-wide chants to “Free Palestine.”

The film had its world premiere at the 82nd edition of the renowned Venice Film Festival, which runs until 6 September.

The film is also Tunisia’s official submission to the 98th Academy Awards.

The first screening of the film was completely sold out hours before its showing.

Several artists from the film’s cast and crew attended the screening, including lead actor Motaz Malhees, who held a photo of Hind Rajab on the red carpet and raised the Palestinian flag on the stage of the theatre after the film’s conclusion.

The film’s unprecedented success was reflected in the longest standing ovation in the festival’s history, with chants of “Free Palestine” resonating across the hall.

The Tunisian-French co-production also stars Amer Hlehel, Clara Khoury, and Saja Kilani.

“Film anchored in truth”

In a post-screening press conference, Kilani declared that “the Voice of Hind Rajab does not need our defence. This film is not an opinion or a fantasy; it is anchored in truth. Hind’s story carries the weight of an entire people.”

Film director Ben Hania also commented on Trump’s plans to turn Gaza’s coastline into a “Riviera,” saying, “When I think about Hind playing on the beach, and I think about this project, [I find myself asking] in what world do we live in?”

Hind Rajab

The film recounts the events of 29 January 2024, when Red Crescent volunteers received an emergency call. A six-year-old girl named Hind Rajab was trapped in a car under fire in Gaza, pleading for rescue.

While trying to keep her on the line, they do everything they can to get an ambulance to her.

The film uses real-life voice recordings between Hind and the Red Crescent correspondents, who attempted to rescue her from the unrelenting Israeli attack.

Explaining her vision for the film, Ben Hania said, “What I wanted was to focus on the invisible: The waiting, the fear, the unbearable sound of silence when help doesn’t come. Sometimes, what you don’t see is more devastating than what you do. At the heart of it is something very simple, and very hard to live with. I cannot accept a world where a child calls for help and no one comes. That pain, that failure, belongs to all of us.”

Kaouther Ben Hania is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of the Arab World, known for her bold storytelling and cinematic innovation.

Her 2023 film, Four Daughters, won the L’Oeil d’Or at Cannes and was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2024 Academy Awards.

Her 2020 feature, The Man Who Sold His Skin, was nominated for Best International Feature and won Best Actor at Venice’s Horizons Section.

Earlier works like Beauty and the Dogs (2017), Zaineb Hates the Snow (2026), and Le Challat de Tunis (2012) also earned international acclaim.

source/content: english.ahram.org.eg (headline edited)

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The Voice of Hind Rajab gets record 23-minute ovation at Venice premiere

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TUNISIA

TUNISIAN Director Kaouther Ben Hania earns 02nd Oscar Nomination with Four Daughters

Tunisian film Four Daughters (Les filles d’Olfa) was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, becoming the director’s second nomination for the Academy Awards.

Ben Hania’s 2020 feature film The Man Who Sold His Skin was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars in 2021.

Written and directed by Ben Hania, the film Four Daughters, nominated for Best Documentary Feature, focuses on a woman’s search for truth as she gets tangled in a web of lies in her family history. As a daughter and filmmaker, Ben Hania fuses personal and national history as she reflects on the 1981 Bread Riots, drawing connections to modern Morocco.

The film follows Olfa, a Tunisian woman and the mother of four daughters. One day, her two older daughters disappear. To replace them, the filmmaker Ben Hania invites professional actresses and invents a unique cinema experience which would lift the veil on Olfa and her daughters’ life stories.

The film blurs the boundaries between documentary and fiction and between being on-screen and off-screen.

The film has received critical acclaim, winning the Golden Eye award at the Cannes Film Festival, the Best International Film at the Munich Film Festival, and the Jury Award at the International Competition of the Brussels Film Festival. Most recently, it won the Asharq Award for Best Documentary at the Red Sea International Film Festival.

source/content: english.ahram.org.eg

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TUNISIA

EGYPT/ EMIRATES/ LEBANON/ PALESTINE/ TUNISIA: 6 Arab Female Filmmakers to Keep an Eye On

Read on for a list of regional female filmmakers who have been taking the industry by storm.

Farida Khelfa

Farida Khelfa is an Algerian-French documentary filmmaker. She is currently set to release a new film titled “From The Other Side of the Veil” that aims to dismantle misconceptions and stereotypes that often surround Arab women.

Kaouther Ben Hania

The Tunisian filmmaker made headlines in the film industry after her critically acclaimed movie “The Man Who Sold His Skin” was shortlisted for the Oscar’s Best International Feature Film award this year.

Ayten Amin

The Egyptian director has long chronicled the lives of women in modern Egypt. Her feature film “Souad” was selected for the cancelled 2020 Cannes Film Festival.

Danielle Arbid

Danielle Arbid is a Lebanese filmmaker. Her work has screened at numerous film festivals in France and the rest of the world, including New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and more.

Annemarie Jacir

The Palestinian filmmaker has written, produced and directed award-winning films such as “A Post Oslo History.” Her movie “Wajib” (2017) won her 18 international awards.

Nujoom Al-Ghanem

The Emirati filmmaker, writer and poet had to overcome societal stigma and family disapproval to make it. She defied the odds and produced films such as “Amal” (2011) and “Sounds of the Sea” (2015).

source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)

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EGYPT/ EMIRATES(U.A.E)/ LEBANON/ PALESTINE/ TUNISIA

Tunisian Filmmaker Kauther Ben Hamaad and Tunisian-French Actor Samir Bouajila Win Awards at France’s Lumiere Awards : January 2021

Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s “The Man Who Sold his Skin” was awarded the International Coproduction Lumiere Award, while Tunisian-French actor Sami Bouajila took home the Best Actor Lumiere Award for his performance in Mehdi Barsaoui’s “A Son.”

The Lumieres — the French equivalent of the American Golden Globes — was held in January 2021 and broadcast on French TV channel Canal+. France-based foreign reporters vote on the film awards.

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pix: arabweekly.com / Tunisian film director Kaouther Ben Hania (L) and producer Nadim Cheikhrouha (R) pose during a photo session in Paris on January 15, 2021 following the 26th “Ceremonie des lumieres” cinema award ceremony. (AFP)

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TUNISIAN / TUNISIAN-FRENCH