CANNES: A boy who takes his parents to court for having him is one of a wave of Arab films making people sit up and take notice at the Cannes film festival.
Not since 1970 have two Arab films been in the running for the Palme d’Or top prize and female Arab directors are particularly making a splash this year.
Lebanese film-maker Nadine Labaki’s highly-anticipated third film “Capernaum” — about a 12-year-old boy with an axe to grind about being born into a miserable, loveless existence — has racked up a string of distribution deals ahead of its premiere late Thursday.
And two first-time female directors made impressive debuts with films about suffocating social conventions in Syria and Morocco.
But while the #MeToo movement continued to make waves, with several Hollywood actresses ditching frilly frocks for pants for their photo shoots, Arab film-makers appeared more concerned with social alienation.
Labaki, who set her first film “Caramel” in a Beirut beauty parlour, zooms in on neglected children and migrants in “Capernaum,” which has drawn comparisons with Charlie Chaplin’s story of a street boy, “The Kid.”
Labaki said she found the idea staring her in the face one night when she was driving home from a party.
“I stopped at a traffic light and saw a child half-asleep in the arms of his mother, who was sitting on the tarmac begging.”
The encounter spurred her to use a mostly hard-up, amateur cast including a Syrian refugee child for the lead role.
Going toe-to-toe with her and the likes of Spike Lee for the Palme d’Or — won only twice in 70 years by Arab directors — is A.B. Shawky, with his feel-good first feature about an Egyptian leper and his orphan friend, also played by amateurs.
A year after the award-winning “The Nile Hilton Incident,” a noirish tale of murder and corruption set during the 2011 revolution in Cairo, “Yomeddine” serves up less political fare.
“What I really want to do is highlight marginalized groups. I wanted to give a voice to people who don’t necessarily have anybody to speak for them,” said Austrian-Egyptian writer-director Shakwy.
Similarly, the Moroccan entry about an unmarried woman threatened with jail for falling pregnant is actually more preoccupied with class divisions.
The film shows a middle-class, 20-year-old from a Casablanca family scrambling to avoid bringing shame on her family after an unwanted pregnancy.
The real victim in the affair, however, is not the one left holding the baby.
“I found that the debate about the condition of women in the Arab world was being reduced to the issue of patriarchy and chauvinism, which to me falls short of the mark,” director Meryem Benm’Barek told AFP.
“Whether you are a man or a woman, what determines whether or not you are a victim is your social status,” she said.
Tunisia director Mohamed Ben Attia’s “Dear Son,” about a father trying to trace his son who has run away to join the Daesh group, is also more family drama than a political broadside.
The birthplace of the Arab Spring, which has been mired in economic crisis ever since, is estimated to have supplied more militants in Syria than any other country.
Ben Attia, who won acclaim with “Hedi,” about a young man torn between duty and passion in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution, tries to tease out the malaise behind the lure of Daesh for disaffected Muslim youths.
Like Labaki, Shawky and Benm’Barek, he believes the story could be transposed to many parts of the globe.
“There is a sort of misery, not only spiritual but emotional, not so much a thirst for ideology as a desire to walk away from this lifestyle... and all the values that are foisted on us.
“They could be living in Paris or elsewhere, it’s the same,” Ben Attia added.
War and unfulfilled desires also collide in the Syrian film, “My Favourite Fabric,” the first film of Paris-based Syrian director Gaya Jiji.
French-Lebanese actress Manal Issa puts in a standout performance as a sullen young Syrian fantasising about sexual abandon and escaping to the West as the war drums begin to beat in early 2011.
She carried her protest over onto the red carpet at Cannes, where she held up a placard reading “Stop the Attack on Gaza.”
Gaza also made it onto the big screen, in a documentary by Italian filmmaker Stefano Savona about the massacre of an extended Palestinian family in 2009 that received rave reviews.
With Saudi Arabia also unveiling big tax breaks for filmmakers at Cannes — Arab cinema may be entering a new era.
Arab cinema back with a bang; bringing lepers, lust and class conflict to Cannes
Arab cinema back with a bang; bringing lepers, lust and class conflict to Cannes
- Not since 1970 have two Arab films been in the running for the Palme d’Or top prize and female Arab directors are particularly making a splash this year.
- Nadine Labaki, who set her first film ‘Caramel’ in a Beirut beauty parlour, zooms in on neglected children and migrants in ‘Capernaum.’
K-Pop’s Super Junior ‘looking forward’ to performing at KCon in Saudi Arabia
DUBAI: South Korean boy band Super Junior are gearing up to perform at Saudi Arabia’s popular K-Pop music festival KCon, which will be held at Boulevard Riyadh City on Oct. 6 and 7.
The group — which consists of Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun — will hit the stage on Oct. 7.
In an interview with Arab News, Shindong said that the group is looking forward “to proper fandom culture. I hope that singers and fans will work together to have a positive impact on society,” he said.
For his part, Donghae, said: “I am looking forward to performing in Saudi Arabia after a long time and I am glad to be able hear the cheering of Saudi fans again. I know that K-Pop is very popular in Saudi Arabia, so I want to perform there quickly.”
“We will make you happy and (give you) precious memories — as much as the time you waited,” he promised his fans.
Ryeowook views art as a powerful connective tool.
“We would be honored if many future artists were inspired by Super Junior and found themselves in great positions,” he told Arab News. “I want to show you songs and performances that can have a positive impact right here and now.”
During the interview, Siwon said he would love to collaborate with local talent in the Kingdom. “I really hope this will happen. I believe that collaboration in the field of cultural exchange is a great development for both countries,” he said.
Meanwhile, Leeteuk was surprised to learn that people in the Kingdom are fans of K-Pop. “I was very surprised and once again moved by their passion. I will do my best to repay their passionate love,” he said.
Eunhyuk, who will perform twice at the festival, told Arab News: “We will be able to show you Super Junior and Super Junior-D&E’s performance together, so you will be able to see the charm of our diverse music and performances.”
Super Junior falls under South Korean multinational agency SM Entertainment, which manages groups like EXO, SuperM and Red Velvet.
The first day of the festival will see performances by Riize, Everglow, Highlight, Hyolyn, Kard, Super Junior-D&E (which are members Donghae and Eunhyuk) and 8Turn.
On the second day, Super Junior will perform alongside Dreamcatcher, El7z Up, Evnne, Oh My Girl, Tempest and TNX.
The event, which launched in Los Angeles in 2012, is said to be one of the largest Korean cultural festivals worldwide.
The Kingdom’s hosting of the event is part of an agreement signed between the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Seoul-based entertainment company CJ ENM in June 2022. It also reflects the ministry’s efforts to boost international cultural exchange in line with the goals of Vision 2030.
Turkish film festival canceled over censorship controversy
- The Ministry of Culture banned the documentary "The Decree", calling it propaganda for the preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of being behind the coup attempt in 2016
ANKARA: An international film festival in Turkiye has been canceled after controversy over a documentary about judicial purges that followed an attempted coup in 2016, authorities said Friday.
The dispute centers on “The Decree,” a documentary about the plight of a doctor and a teacher affected by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s sweeping crackdown after he survived the failed military coup.
The film was initially selected for Antalya’s “Golden Orange” film festival, but excluded from the competition last week, prompting an outcry from filmmakers who condemned the move as censorship.
The festival’s jury members threatened to pull out if the film was not readmitted and said they “reject the approach that looks for incriminating elements in a film and the normalization of censorship.”
The organizers gave in and reinstated the film, but it was excluded again after the culture ministry waded in.
“I regret to inform film lovers that we have canceled our festival, which was set to take place between October 7-14, due to external developments,” the mayor of Antalya said in footage shared on social media.
The Ministry of Culture withdrew its support for the festival, calling it propaganda for the preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of being behind the coup attempt in 2016.
Arab movies ‘Inshallah a Boy,’ ‘Bye Bye Tiberias’ join Oscars race
DUBAI: Jordan has submitted Amjad Al-Rasheed’s movie “Inshallah a Boy” and Palestine submitted Lina Soualem’s documentary “Bye Bye Tiberias” for consideration in the Best International Feature Film category at the 96th Academy Awards, it was announced this week.
This means that both films are considered for the shortlist. If the Arab movies get shortlisted, they could then get nominated for an Academy Award.
“Inshallah a Boy” was the first Jordanian film to compete in the Cannes Film Festival in May. The feature film was chosen to compete in Cannes Critics’ Week, a subsidiary event that ran alongside the 76th edition of the festival.
The film, titled “Inshallah Walad” in Arabic, portrays the narrative of a young widow, Nawal, and her daughter, who are about to lose their home.
The 90-minute film was shot last year in the Jordanian capital Amman over the course of five weeks. It received a Jordan Film Fund and Royal Film Commission production grant in 2019, as well as a post-production grant in 2022.
In the much-hyped documentary “Bye Bye Tiberias,” Soualem, who is French, Palestinian and Algerian, captures the stories passed on by four generations of Palestinian women in her family, one of whom is her mother Hiam Abbass, the actress whose credits include “Succession,” “Ramy,” “Inheritance” and “Munich.”
Soualem accompanies her mother and questions her choices as Abbass returns to her native Palestinian village 30 years after she left in her early 20s to follow her dream of becoming an actress in Europe, leaving behind her mother, grandmother, and seven sisters.
The film will screen in the Documentary Competition section of the 67th BFI London Film Festival, set to take place from Oct. 4 – 15, 2023.
Jordan and Palestine are not the only two Arab countries that submitted movies for the Oscars.
Egypt has selected Mohamed Farag-starring “Voy Voy Voy!” while Yemen has selected director Amr Gamal’s “The Burdened” and Tunisia is competing with Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters.”
Morocco has selected Asmae El Moudir’s documentary “The Mother of All Lies.”
Review: ‘Shayda’ – a personal, powerful debut from director Noora Niasari
TORONTO: Based on writer-director Noora Niasari’s own experiences, “Shayda” is an intimate yet striking drama that shines a light on the courage and resilience of women and mothers, more specifically single and immigrant mothers.
Shayda (played by Zar Amir Ebrahimi who gained critical acclaim for “Holy Spider” in 2022) is an Iranian woman who immigrated to Australia to accompany her husband Hossein (Osamah Sami) while he finishes his university degree. Their relationship starts to get violent and in 1995, where this film begins, Shayda escapes with her daughter Mona (Selina Zahednia) to a women’s shelter. The story takes place during the two weeks of the Persian New Year, also known as Nowruz. What should be a joyous time celebrating with loved ones, Shayda has to deal with legal proceedings to gain full custody of Mona but while that’s underway, the courts allow Hossein unsupervised time with Mona. This unnerves Shayda because if Hossein wanted to, he could kidnap the child and flee.
At the women’s shelter, Shayda tries to bring some normalcy to an abnormal situation for Mona and herself by participating in the customs of Nowruz. They put together their Haft-Sin and make decorations around a small table. Mona, however, has her heart set on fire jumping with the Iranian community, which is one of the events that marks the new year. Shayda is hesitant because it means having to meet the judgmental eye of her community. The shame and criticism a woman gets for leaving her marriage —even if it means protecting her life and that of her child — is a topic that Noora Niasari isn’t afraid to tackle because those cultural pressures are still prevalent today.
While Zar Amir Ebrahimi shines in the titular role, it is Selina Zahednia as Mona who is the real star. It is a difficult role but the young performer is emotionally intelligent and hits all her marks creating a standout performance.
Overall, it’s a fine piece of Australian cinema that will tug at your heart strings and open your eyes to an underrepresented community and stories we don’t often pay attention to.
“Shayda” played as a part of the Centrepiece program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.
Kuwaiti director Zeyad Alhusaini, US actor Ron Perlman on ‘How I Got There’
- ‘All the best filmmakers break the rules,’ says Zeyad Alhusaini
DUBAI: Great artists make the art they feel is missing from the world. For filmmakers, however, that’s easier said than done. For years, Kuwaiti director Zeyad ‘Zee’ Alhusaini was told that, to succeed, he had to either make a standard Hollywood movie, or another film highlighting Arab misery. He dreamed of something different — a cross-genre epic that merged the spirits of the films and the region he adored. He knew, deep down, that Gulf audiences craved a new path forward just as much as he did.
Ten years after starting that journey, Alhusaini has been vindicated. His debut feature, “How I Got There” — a Saudi-Kuwaiti co-production — has just become the highest-grossing domestic film in Kuwait’s history, a few months after winning the Audience Award for Best Saudi Film at the 2022 Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah. And after signing with international talent agency UTA, he’s now set to become a major voice in global film for years to come.
“Years ago, when I first became a filmmaker, I met with all the major studios. But I had to ask myself: Do I want to just make a film, or do I want to make a film that changes someone’s life? I chose the latter. That’s what drove me, and that’s what still drives me today,” Alhusaini tells Arab News.
“In both the region and the world, we’re in dire need of new perspectives to reinvigorate this medium. For cinema to move forward, we need a new wave, and I hope to be part of that evolution,” he continues.
Alhusaini has always been something of a maverick. When he studied film at Columbia University in New York, he would often get into arguments with his professors, who would tell him again and again to follow the so-called ‘rules’ of what makes a good screenplay, a notion that the filmmakers he adored, including Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma, never adhered to.
“I remember one particular exchange. My professor told me: ‘I just want to help you write a better film!’ I responded, ‘I feel like you’re trying to make us all write the same film with different characters!’ I wanted to do something different, because all the best filmmakers break the rules,” Alhusaini says.
With “How I Got There,” Alhusaini took heavy inspiration from Scorsese films such as “Casino” and “Goodfellas” to craft something singular; the story of two best friends who stumble upon a gun shipment in Kuwait and try to get rich quick, only to be pulled into a dark world of crime and terror, with action, drama, suspense, and a surprising dose of comedy. Alhusaini aimed big, even writing in an American mercenary that he imagined could be played by American actor Ron Perlman, the star of “Hellboy” and “Sons of Anarchy.” To his surprise, Perlman was interested.
“In most scripts, you can predict where they’re going next, but in Zee’s script, I had no idea,” says Perlman. “I was hooked. It was truly great writing. We met in LA, and I could see that this was a serious filmmaker who was really dedicated to putting some heavy-duty stuff on the screen. And that's my language. I knew this was an adventure that I couldn’t wait to immerse myself in.”
The experience was eye-opening for Perlman, who, like most Americans, had only ever been exposed to the Arabian Gulf through sensationalist news stories, without having the chance to experience its culture first-hand.
“My understanding of the Middle East was strictly from headlines on CNN. That’s a problem. When everything’s coming through the lens of socio-political news stories, you’re not being immersed in real culture; they’re not shining a light on the true humanity,” says Perlman.
“One of the great privileges of my career is that I got this invitation to participate in a Kuwaiti-Saudi film, to see the human side of this amazing place. Zee gave me this incredible gift that few have gotten to experience: to be able to experience Kuwait and this region, to stand shoulder to shoulder with someone I never knew I would have a relationship with, as equals, and to present a work of art to the world with pride and love,” he continues.
Perlman, who has just returned to the US after attending the film’s Kuwait and Saudi premieres, stars opposite a host of talent from across the region. While there are some established names, such as beloved Kuwaiti veteran actor Jassim Al-Nabhan, Alhusaini primarily opted for up-and-comers who had yet to enter the film world, including Kuwaiti TV veteran Yaqoob Abdullah, Bahraini pop star Hala Al-Turk, and Kuwait-born Iraqi actress Rawan Mahdi, star of Netflix’s acclaimed series “The Exchange.”
“I spent three months with the actors, basically stripping away the habits of television and replacing them with new habits,” says Alhusaini. “That was crucial, because I wanted us to get to the point where we could have our own little language. When Ron came in, he made everyone so comfortable because he has this contented spirit that is just infectious. You can’t help but feel welcome around him.”
While Perlman, 72, admits he has grown more and more comfortable in his own skin as he’s gotten older, he doesn’t revel in being the guy on set that everyone looks up to.
“I don’t like being the elder statesman at all. My knees hurt, my ankles hurt… I remember being the kid they ordered to go get a cup of coffee for them. Those were the days!” says Perlman.
“On this set, a funny thing happened. We were all so curious about each other’s cultures that we kind of diminished our own experiences. The other lead actors might look at me like I’ve cornered the market on success, just because I've been around longer and I’ve done a larger number of projects. When that happened, I said to them, ‘You just gave a performance that blew my mind. That’s what you need to know. You don't need to hear anything from me. You don’t understand how special you are.’”
Alhusaini now counts Perlman as a friend, a welcome end to a journey that began when he first entered the script into the IWC Filmmaker Award at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2013, and began shooting the film in 2018.
Now, as he nears the end of a successful theatrical run in the region, he waits to see what the future holds for international release. He knows the right streaming partner could turn his film into the sort of cult classic that could inspire a new generation, just as the films of the 70s, 80s, and 90s inspired him.
“This has been one of the most difficult experiences of my life, but never for a second did I think to stop. I always wanted to find a way, because I knew this would be an important film. I matured as a filmmaker, I got to meet great people, and I got to present something that I feel is important for people of Kuwait and the Gulf,” says Alhusaini.
“For now, I need to rest, but the next journey begins (soon). My next film will be set in the US, and then I’ll return to the Middle East for the one after that, and so on, in a cycle. And if all goes well, Ron and I will be working together again on the next one, in a very different style,” he continues. “There’s so much left to do, but the new wave is coming.”
