Arab Cinema Center heads to Venice Film Fest with slate of events

In collaboration with Venice Production Bridge, the ACC will host two panel discussions and a networking session at the Italian film festival. (File/ Shutterstock)
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Updated 28 August 2023
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Arab Cinema Center heads to Venice Film Fest with slate of events

DUBAI: The Arab Cinema Center (ACC) is set to host a slate of events at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, which runs from Aug. 30-Sept. 9.  

In collaboration with Venice Production Bridge, the ACC will host two panel discussions and a networking session at the Italian film festival known for drawing Hollywood and international celebrities.  

The first panel discussion, titled “An Amazing Journey Among Film Commissions,” will be led by celebrity TV presenter Raya Abirached on Sept. 2 and will feature Managing Director of Saudi Arabia’s NEOM Wayne Borg, Managing Director of the Jordanian Royal Film Commission Mohannad Al-Bakri, Film Commissioner Arie Bohrer of Film in Austria and the National Film Commission, and CEO of Vertigo Films Jane Moore.  

Meanwhile, the second panel discussion — titled “The Golden Time for Arab Talents Regionally and Internationally” — will held on the same day and will be moderated by Co-Founder of MAD Solutions Alaa Karkouti. The panelists will include Borg, founder of Nomadis Images Dora Bouchoucha, Film Clinic founder Mohamed Hefzy, and director of development of film AlUla Roua Al-Madani.  

"We are thrilled to collaborate with Venice for the ninth year in a row. We strive to promote Arab cinema at some of the world's most prestigious international film festivals, be it through panel discussions, screenings, or any other activities. We are also pleased that Lebanese heartthrob Raya Abirached — one of the Arab world's most successful TV presenters — will lead one of our panel discussions," said co-founders of the ACC Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab in a released statement.  

Established by MAD Solutions in 2015, the ACC is a nonprofit organization registered in Berlin.  

Meanwhile, the Saudi Film Commission is also participating in festival, organized by La Biennale di Venezia. 

The participating Saudi delegation will be headed by Abdullah Al-Ayyaf CEO of the Film Commission, the government body affiliated with the Ministry of Culture. 

The commission will host a roundtable discussion at the event, hosting international experts to discuss the most critical challenges of distributing content in languages other than English to global audiences. 

 


Bella Hadid leaves Paris for Los Angeles launch event

Updated 11 March 2026
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Bella Hadid leaves Paris for Los Angeles launch event

DUBAI: Supermodel Bella Hadid jetted from Paris to Los Angeles this week to launch her latest campaign with US fashion retailer Revolve.

The Palestinian US Dutch model was on hand in France earlier in the week, where she hit the runway at the Saint Laurent show during Paris Fashion Week.

She then flew across to Los Angeles to launch a campaign with Los Angeles-founded retailer Revolve, which was set up in 2003 by Michael Mente and Mike Karanikolas.

Hadid fronts a campaign launching the e-commerce department store’s first-ever in-house brand, Revolve Los Angeles.

“Born from a deep understanding of the modern woman and inspired by the city where it all began, our eponymous fashion house is a new expression of effortless glamor,” the new fashion label posted on Instagram alongside black-and-white images of Hadid in a selection of looks.

Prior to her trip to Los Angeles, the model showed off French label Saint Laurent’s latest collection in Paris.

Creative Director Anthony Vaccarello, marking his own 10th anniversary at the helm, sent out a parade of razor-sharp Smokings — the house term for its iconic women’s tuxedo — with plunging necklines and elongated silhouettes that crackled with the same transgressive energy founder Yves Saint Laurent unleashed in the 1960s, the Associated Press reported.

But Vaccarello didn’t stop at evening wear.

He extended the same sensual, body-skimming tailoring into daytime suits in fluid pinstripe fabrics with almost no interlining, effectively arguing that the tuxedo silhouette belongs in a woman’s life around the clock.

Plenty of brands in Milan showed strong black pantsuits this season, but the Saint Laurent version still occupies its own territory — sleeker, sharper, more loaded with meaning.

The other half of Vaccarello’s equation was lace, stiffened with latex and tailored into structured cardigan-like jackets and straight skirts.

It was lace with backbone — tough, not delicate.

Paired with smoky eyes, chunky gold jewelry and slingback heels, the collection made a case that Saint Laurent’s codes are as potent as ever.