Middle East Records – Page 76 – Arabian Records (1st post : Eid Al Fitr – 01st Shawwal 1439 (AH) / 15th June 2018 ) / (BETA testing – Research

Arab Cinema Center Grants Mouhamad Keblawi the ‘Arab Cinema Personality of the Year Award’

During the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), Arab Cinema Center (ACC) granted Mouhamad Keblawi, Founder and Head of Malmö Arab Film Festival in Sweden, the Arab Cinema Personality of the year award.

This comes in recognition of his contribution and immense support to Arab Cinema through the festival, with an aim to promote Arab cinema in Sweden and Scandinavia.

Mohamed Keblawi is a Swedish-Palestinian director and producer, who has worked in television and documentary film production.

In 2011, he founded the Malmö Arab Film Festival in Sweden, which is set on encouraging Arab filmmakers to find more opportunities to tell their stories, and support Arab film projects.

The festival screened hundreds of Arab films since its establishment, including Oscar-nominated films; Director Naji Abu Nowar’s Jordanian film Theeb, Kaouther Ben Hania’s Tunisian film The Man Who Sold His Skin, and Palestinian short film The Present by Farah Nabulsi.

The festival also featured several award-winning Arab films that have been to numerous international festivals; Wajib by director Annemarie Jacir, EXT. Night by Ahmad Abdalla, A Son by Mehdi Barsaoui, Gaza Mon Amour by Arab and Tarzan Nasser, and Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim by Sherif Elbendary, among others.

Mohamed Keblawi also launched MAFF Market Forum as part of the festival with the aim of supporting Arab film projects and helping them come to light. During its latest edition, the Forum presented monetary prizes worth of $ 250,000. Ever since it was created, this annual prize supported almost 100 projects including Costa Brava, Lebanon by Mounia Akl, Beauty and the Dogs by Kaouther Ben Hania, Captains of Zaatari by Ali El Arabi, 200 Meters by Ameen Nayfeh,

Our River…Our Sky by Maysoon Pachachi, Communion by Nejib Belkadhi, Khartoum Offside by Marwa Zein, and Tiny Souls by Dina Naser.

Keblawi is also the founder of Arab Cinema in Sweden, a company that works on the distribution of Arab films in Sweden. These films include Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji’s Jordanian film The Journey, Sophie Boutros’ Lebanese film Solitaire, Mohamed Khan’s Egyptian film Factory Girl, and Khadija al-Salami’s Yemeni film I Am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced.

Most recently, Mohamed Keblawi received the City of Malmö’s Grant for Art and Culture for the year 2021. This is an annual grant allocated to twelve creators in the fields of music, theater, cinema and literature. From 2015 to 2017, he was a member of the documentary film nomination committee for the Guldbagge Awards, one that is considered as Sweden’s Oscars.“What Keblawi did by establishing a main venue for Arab cinema in Sweden, is certainly a first of its kind. Through which, thanks to his tireless efforts, he was able to develop a platform for filmmakers in Sweden and Europe, and so Arab filmmakers became quite familiar faces in Sweden. He was able to create an exceptional fan base for a festival that caters for Arab films in Europe. We are honored to grant him the prize, as he continues to expand his horizons each year, whether through the festival or through his distribution and production firms.” commented Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, the Co-founders of Arab Cinema Center.”The prize crowns many years of hard work to try to grant the Arab film a chance to be acknowledged in places that it has never been before,” Keblawi said after announcement of the prize. “Things like the release of an Arab picture in Swedish theaters or Sweden’s funding of an Arab film were fictitious at the beginning of the millennium, this is an achievement which I am proud of. I’d like to thank everyone who helped me reach my goal. I’d also like to thank the Arab Cinema Center for this award, which I’m very proud of.

The Arab Cinema Personality of The Year award is part of its strategy of promoting the Arab film industry internationally and supporting Arab filmmakers.

During the last years, Arab Cinema Center (ACC) presented the Arab Cinema Personality of The Year award to Chiraz Latiri, former Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs, Screenwriter and Producer Mohamed Hefzy, the President of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), Abdulhamid Juma, Chairman of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), and Masoud Amralla, Artistic Director of DIFF.

Arab Cinema Center (ACC), founded in 2015 by MAD Solutions, is a non-profit organization incorporated in Amsterdam. ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialized in co-production and international distribution, among others. ACC’s activities vary between film markets, stands,pavilions, networking sessions, one-on-one meetings bringing together Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, and meetings with international organizations and festivals.

Also, the activities include the issuance of Arab Cinema Magazine to be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets. Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on ACC’s website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of Arab Cinema Magazine, as well as news on ACC’s activities, notifications 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 ACC’s partners and their future projects.

Arab Cinema Center has launched the Arab Cinema Directory in English language on its website, which is a comprehensive cinema directory that provides multiple tools in one place for the first time in order to enhance easy access to information on cinema to film makers inside and outside the Arab world. It also aims to facilitate the connection between the Arab film and Filmmakers and the International market. It also helps International Filmmakers to easily identify the Arab Cinema Productions.

source/content: egypttoday.com

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SWEDEN / PALESTINE

Saudis Win Three Medals at International Nordic-Baltic Physics Olympiad, Estonia

A Saudi team won three medals at an international physics Olympiad on Sunday.

Sadiq Al-Abbad from Riyadh won a silver medal, Jawad Al-Saif from the Eastern Province won a bronze medal, and Lama Al-Ahdal from Jeddah earned a bronze at the Nordic-Baltic Physics Olympiad held at Estonia’s Tallinn University of Technology.

The Olympiad was launched in 1992 with the participation of Estonia and Finland and was called the Estonia and Finland Physics Olympiad.

With Latvia joining in 2014 and Sweden joining in 2016, the name of the competition changed to the Nordic-Baltic Physics Olympiad.

Each main country participates with 20 competitors, while each guest country participates with a specified number.

This year’s Nordic-Baltic Physics Olympiad had four main and four guest countries participating.

The head of the Saudi delegation to the Nordic-Baltic Physics Olympiad, Talal Al-Rashidi, said the physics team had won three gold and silver medals in the GCC Olympiad that was held in March.

The team was participating in the European Physics Olympiad in May with five students and the Asian Physics Olympiad immediately afterward.

“Since 2010, we have achieved 472 medals in many international competitions in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, informatics, and sciences. Saudi Arabia is the first in the Arab world and the first third globally in various scientific disciplines.

source/content: arabnews.com (edited)

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This success is ‘an extension of the series of achievements in international competitions in which KSA participates.’ (Supplied)

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SAUDI ARABIA

Morocco’s Youness Mustafa Gharbi Wins Quran Recitation Skill, Scent of Speech (Otr Elkalam)’ Category in the ‘Saudi International Holy Quran Competition ‘ 2022

Gharbi is one of a number of Moroccans who have won similar prizes.

Youness Gharbi is the latest in a list of other Moroccans to have claimed a prize for his Quran recitation skills, this time in Saudi Arabia.

Visually impaired Gharbi won the “Otr Elkalam” competition on Wednesday, with a prize of SAR 5 million ($1.3 million).

He received his prize during a ceremony celebrating the completion of the international Quran reciting competition whose name is Arabic for the fragrance of speech.

The Chairman of the board of directors of Saudi’s general entertainment authority , Turki Al-Seikh, delivered the prize to Youness Gharbi and another British contestant Mohamed Ayoub who came in second place.

Mohamed Ayoub received an award of a little over half a million dollars.

In the call to prayer category, a Turkish contestant came in first place, Muhsin Kara, receiving SAR 2 million ($533,200), while another Turkish contestant Albijan Celik came in second place, winning a prize of SAR1 million ($266,600).

Saudi contestant Anas Al-Rahili came in fourth place with a SAR250,000 ($66,650) award.

During the ceremony, the event organizers announced that the “Otr Elkalam” competition will open its doors for international Quran reciters during Ramadan next year.

The “Otr Elkalam” competition was organized by the Saudi government’s General Entertainment Authority this month, to coincide with Ramadan.

Moroccans are no strangers to winning Quran reciting awards. In 2020, Five Moroccans won a Quran reciting competition award in Abu Dhabi during a virtual ceremony.

Nearly all prizewinners of the Abu Dhabi competition were Moroccans.

Moroccan Fatima-Zahrae Mrabet claimed the first place in the women’s “All Nationalities” category, and Moroccan Kaoutar Zribi and Chaimae Lchab trailed behind respectively in second and third place.

Moroccan men equally distinguished themselves at the ceremony, with Anas Mhamdi ranking first in the men’s “All Nationalities” category and Abdellah Bela ranking third within a different category.

source/content: moroccoworldnews.com

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MOROCCO

Egypt’s Suhayr Al-Qalamawi, FIRST Woman to Obtain a Doctorate in Literature in MENA region

Suhayr al-Qalamawi is an icon of literature and politics in the Arab world in general and in Egypt in particular.

She greatly influenced cultural life in Egypt and the Arab world and it was her idea to establish the Cairo International Book Fair.

Qalamawi was born in Cairo, in a family that focused on educating their daughters. Her father was a surgeon and her mother spoke various languages. This upbringing helped her complete her education, and she graduated from the American College for Girls in 1928.

Her father also played a major role in developing her linguistic and cultural skills. She excelled reading the holy Qur’an with her father. Qalamawi’s father also owned a library where she was able to feed her infinite hunger for reading.

She was able to benefit from her father’s vast library of works at an early age, and it seems that writers such as Taha Hussein, Rifa’a al-Tahtawi and Ibn Iyas greatly contributed to her literary talent and shaped her voice as a writer.

Her father encouraged her to specialize in Arabic literature, and she became the first young girl to attend Cairo University and the first woman among 40 men to study Arabic literature. After obtaining a Master of Arts, she then received a scholarship to conduct research in Paris for her Ph.D. in 1941. After the completion of her doctoral thesis, she became the first woman to obtain a doctorate from Cairo University.

During her educational career, she was influenced by a number of personalities, most notably the dean of Arabic literature Taha Hussein, who was head of the Arabic language department and editor-in-chief of the Cairo University Magazine at the time. He made her assistant editor-in-chief of the magazine in 1932, and Qalamawi became the first woman to obtain a permit to practice journalism in Egypt.

Suhayr al-Qalamawi started her career after graduation as the first female lecturer at Cairo University in 1936. Soon she became a university professor and later the head of the Arabic language department between 1958-1967, in addition to becoming the president of the Egyptian Feminist Union.

She became the president of the Egyptian General Authority for Cinema, Theater and Music in 1967 and the head of the Child Culture Society in 1968. Qalamawi was also the head of the administration of the General Egyptian Book Organization, from 1967 to 1971, and the head of the censorship authority from 1982 to 1985.

In addition, Qalamawi was able to make outstanding contributions within the cultural field. During her tenure as head of the General Egyptian Book Organization, she worked to expand the range of readers, encourage young writers, and advance the book industry in 1967. From here, she established the first book fair in the Middle East, which is the Cairo International Book Fair in 1967.

Suhayr al-Qalamawi’s contributions were not limited to the cultural community, but she also contributed to the struggle of women, in order to preserve their rights through her literary works, in addition to her participation in many conferences on Arab women, and in 1960, she was the president of the International Conference on Women.

Furthermore, Qalamawi’s journey was also full of political work, and the beginning was when she entered politics as a member of Parliament in 1958 , and was nominated again in the period from 1979 to 1984.

Qalamawi’s career was crowned with a number of awards, as she was awarded the Arabic Language Academy Award in 1954 and the State Appreciation Award in Youth Literature. She also received the State Encouragement Award, the State Appreciation Award in Literature, The First Class Order of the Republic, the Medal of Achievement, and an Honorary Doctorate from the American University in Cairo.

After an enriching career, Suhayr al-Qalamawi passed away in 1997.

source/content: egypttoday.com (edited)

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EGYPT

Bahrain to Continue Management of Air Traffic over Arabian Gulf’s International Waters following ICAO’s 225th Session Decision

Bahrain’s Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, HE Eng. Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, today announced that the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has decided that the Kingdom of Bahrain will continue to manage air traffic in the airspace over international waters in the Arabian Gulf, extending from the borders of the United Arab Emirates flight information region (FIR) to the borders of the State of Kuwait FIR.

HE Eng. Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed welcomed the decision which follows the outcomes of the ICAO Council’s 225th Session.

All member states of the Council commended the longstanding air navigation services provided by the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Kingdom has successfully managed the ICAO mandate since 1959, providing safe and efficient air traffic control services that have garnered the approval of ICAO and the airlines that use the airspaces.

In line with international laws which grant countries the right to exclusive sovereignty over airspace above its territories, the establishment of the Doha FIR was approved to include the airspace over the land and water of the State of Qatar.

source/content: bna.bh

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BAHRAIN / ARABIAN GULF

Kuwait’s Yousef Al Refaie Achieves Guinness World Record as the Youngest to Climb Seven Volcanic Summits on 7 Continents.

Yousef Al Refaie sets the record for reaching the top of the highest volcanoes on each of the seven continents.

A Kuwaiti mountaineer has become the youngest person to climb the world’s Seven Volcanic Summits.

Yousef Al Refaie has set a Guinness World Record for reaching the top of the highest volcanoes on each of the seven continents at 24 years and 119 days.

“[If] you came from the desert, I wouldn’t think you [would] be able to climb the highest mountains,” he said of his feat.

Mr Al Refaie, the 24th person to climb the peaks, began his journey as a tourist on December 30 2015 when he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

He then climbed Russia’s Mount Elbrus on July 18 2017, Mount Giluwe Mountain in Papua New Guinea on July 21 2018, Pico de Orizaba in Mexico on January 6 2019, Iran’s Mount Damavand on August 11 2019, Ojos Del Salado in the Andes on January 15 2020 and Mount Sidley in the Antarctic on December 22 2021.

He said the toughest was the 4,285m dormant Mount Sidley in Antarctica’s Marie Byrd Land, one of the largest uninhabited areas in the world. It took the team seven hours to push from their camp at 3,000m to the crest of the caldera.

He said he had previously attempted to break the record for the fastest climb of the Arabian Peninsula’s highest peaks, but, as with other challengers, he was not allowed to enter Yemen.

Mr Al Refaie now wants to cross the largest deserts in the world, starting with the Empty Quarter in November.

“When I first asked my mum for the Guinness World Records Book as a kid, she told me she would only buy it if I had something amazing to make my way into it,” he said.

“I really don’t know if she meant it that time, but here we are living the dream.

source/content: thenationalnews.com (edited)

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KUWAIT

Egyptian Swimmer Omar Hegazy Breaks Two Guinness World Records After Losing His Leg

Egyptian swimmer Omar Hegazy broke two Guinness World Records last week after losing his leg in 2015.

The 31-year-old first broke the record for “longest distance swam underwater with one breath,” swimming 185 feet and 4 inches (or 56.48 meters). He then donned a fin and broke the record for “longest distance swam underwater with one breath with fins,” traveling 251 feet and 7.68 inches (76.7 meters), according to a statement from Guinness World Records.

Hegazy commemorated his accomplishments in an Instagram post, in which he thanked his friends, family and coaches for their support.

“Nothing beats the journey,” he wrote in the post’s caption. “Enjoyed every cold windy day in the pool. Enjoyed after midnight training sessions. Enjoyed the friendships and the unconditional love I saw in the eyes of my friends, family and coaches. Still hungry for more!”

Hegazy had his left leg amputated in 2015 after he was run over by a truck in a motorcycle accident, according to Guinness. He was 25 years old at the time.

Hegazy had to spend several more weeks in the hospital after the operation, learning how to complete everyday tasks. He eventually became interested in accomplishing athletic achievements of strength after reading about Dareen Barbar, a Lebanese amputee who broke the world record for the longest static wall sit. He also read about Faisal Al Mosawi, a Kuwaiti wheelchair user who broke the record for the fastest 10 kilometer scuba dive.

My source of motivation in the beginning was that I do not have much left to lose,” Hegazy said in statement to Guinness. “I only got into swimming because I was a very angry. I found a way to I let out my anger and frustration, but it was also where I felt really free and capable.”

In addition to breaking two Guinness World Records, Hegazy has achieved a number of other athletic milestones. He swam across the Gulf of Aqaba in 2017, completed in a 700 kilometer cycling challenge and climbed a mountain, according to his website.

“I hope these Guinness World Records titles inspire others and serve as a reminder that amazing is somewhere near you,” Hegazy told Guinness. “You just have to open your eyes wide.”

source/content: si.com / Sports Illustrated (edited)

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EGYPT

Saudi Arabia’s Dr. Hanan Al-Ahmadi Honored with International Award by USA’s Tulane University

Dr. Hanan bint Abdulrahim Al-Ahmadi.

Dr. Hanan bint Abdulrahim Al-Ahmadi was awarded the International Award for Exceptional Achievement during the Tulane Alumni Awards Gala, hosted by Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine on April 9.

Al-Ahmadi, an academic who specializes in economics and health management and who also serves as the assistant speaker of the Saudi Shura Council, was honored for the contributions of her legacy of excellence at Tulane University.

The award is given to alumni who represent the highest standards of excellence and community service locally and internationally.

During her acceptance speech, Al-Ahmadi said that the scholarships to study abroad provided by Saudi Arabia are pillars of educational strategy in contributing to distinguishing the Kingdom as a global educational institution.

Al-Ahmadi highlighted that all this is due to the great investment in women’s education in Saudi Arabia. She emphasized that the leadership’s support of Saudi women contributed to elevating her to international and regional forums and representing the Kingdom abroad.

Two other doctors, Dr. Neil Meltzer and Dr. Joseph Kanter were also honored for different achievements alongside Al-Ahmadi.

source/content: arabnews.com (edited)

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SAUDIA ARABIA

The FIRST Marvel Project to have an Arab Director. Filmmaker Mohamed Diab Discusses ‘Moon Knight’

Representation matters. Not just representation of ethnic background, but of personal experience. As Egyptian director Mohamed Diab becomes the first Arab to direct a Marvel project with the eagerly awaited limited series “Moon Knight,” it’s a landmark moment not only because of his nationality, but also because he was born, raised, thrived and suffered in Egypt, living through his country’s revolution and painful rebuild, and ultimately becoming one of its most important chroniclers.

“I’m not someone who is obsessed with firsts, but I will say that what is unique about me getting the Marvel job is that I’m coming directly from the Arab world,” Diab — who previously helmed the award-winning films “Cairo 678” (2010), “Clash” (2016), and “Amira” (2021) — continues.

There was a major reason that Diab’s voice was so necessary to the project. While many of the Marvel comic books from the 60s and 70s drew from cultures and mythologies from across the world, they were written and drawn from a perspective foreign to the cultures they were influenced by, leading to limited — sometimes offensive — portrayals of those people, places, and histories.

Part of Diab’s mission was not just to apply his own voice to the show, but to include the creative voices of as many Egyptians and Arabs as he could. Each Egyptian character on the show is portrayed by an actual Egyptian — something rarely, if ever, done in Hollywood — including the ancient deity that plagues Moon Knight himself. Behind the scenes, Diab recruited the previous collaborator Ahmed Hafez as one of the series’ editors, and the great Egyptian composer Hesham Nazih to write the series’ score.

Diab — as the show’s key creative voice along with creator Jeremy Slater — was integral in far more than capturing the Egyptian aspects of the show; he helped shape its entire aesthetic, so the show embraces elements that no Marvel project has before in terms of tone, style, and themes. He also personally convinced two actors who had long resisted becoming part of a superhero project — Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke — to come aboard.

“The wonderful idea of hiring Mohamed to be our quarterback, to guide this ship, is that the movies he’s made in Egypt are incredible,” says Hawke. “He’s not looking at this with the eyes of an American, he’s looking at this — and these deities, and this world — from a vantage point of growing up in Egypt and having a lot to say about it. It’s exciting to be around him in that way.”

Diab also recruited the Egyptian-Palestinian actress May Calamawy, best known for her role in the Golden Globe-winning sitcom “Ramy,” as one of the show’s leads.

Ultimately, “Moon Knight” — which debuts internationally on Disney+ on March 30 and will premiere in the region this summer — is a show full of outsiders who, in partnership with Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige and many others, lent their creative voices to make this a Marvel project like no other.

source/content: arabnews.com (edited)

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EGYPT

UAE Team Wins ‘IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship’, Luxembourg, April 2022

UAE team defeated Luxembourg, the hosts of the tournament, (8:1), at the Ice Hockey World Championship in Luxembourg, delivering an incredible win of the title.

The UAE national team scored a resounding victory over the Luxembourg team in their final match at the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship DIV III A.

The UAE team scored the full mark of 12 points after winning four matches.

Hamel Al Qubaisi, Vice President of the UAE Winter Sports Federation, dedicated the landmark victory to the UAE leadership, which he said had provided all support and assistance to the sports in the country.

Juma Al Dhaheri, captain of UAE Ice Hockey Team, said the victory is a result of tireless work for more than ten years to assemble a strong, competitive team.

source/content: wam.ae (edited)

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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E)