Stars show off Arab designs at Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles

US rapper and actress Awkwafina showed off an elegant look by Lebanese couturier Georges Hobeika. (AFP)
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Updated 14 December 2023
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Stars show off Arab designs at Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles

DUBAI: Hollywood stars hit the red carpet at the 2023 Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles on Monday night in a sparkling array of Arab creations, including looks by designers Georges Hobeika, Elie Saab, Tony Ward and Hedi Slimane. 

First up was US rapper and actress Awkwafina who showed off an elegant look by Lebanese couturier Georges Hobeika, complete with a tulle skirt and pearl-and-gemstone detailing across the jacket. The ensemble hailed from Hobeika’s Fall/Winter 2022 couture line and was styled with KatKim jewelry and a metallic Tyler Ellis clutch.  




Awkwafina showed off an elegant look by Lebanese couturier Georges Hobeika. (AFP)

Model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen opted for a gown by Lebanese Italian designer Tony Ward that was picked from his Fall/Winter 2023 couture line, while actress Taraji P. Henson chose a jewel purple number by Lebanon’s Zuhair Murad from his Fall/Winter 2023 ready-to-wear line.  

For her part, Danai Gurira showed off an ice blue Elie Saab look, from the Fall/Winter 2022 couture line, and model Kaia Gerber, whose mother is supermodel Cindy Crawford, was dressed in a custom-made gown by Celine’s creative head, Tunisian designer Hedi Slimane.  




Danai Gurira showed off an ice blue Elie Saab look. (AFP)

After being rescheduled from its original September date, the 2023 Academy Museum Gala took place on Monday night and saw the likes of Simu Liu, Dua Lipa, Lupita Nyong’o and Selena Gomez walk the red and pink carpet. 

The evening marked the third annual benefit for the movie museum, where current exhibits spotlight the works of directors John Waters and Lourdes Portillo as well as the 1991 film “Boyz n the Hood” Icons Meryl Streep, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and Sofia Coppola were honored at the event this week.  




Kaia Gerber was dressed in a custom-made gown by Celine. (AFP)

Streep received the Icon Award, given to an artist whose career had a notable influence worldwide; Michael B. Jordan was given the Vantage Award, given to an emerging artist or scholar working to challenge and contextualize existing dominant narratives around film; Winfrey was awarded the Pillar Award, recognizing leadership and support for the Academy Museum; Coppola nabbed the Visionary Award, given to an artist or scholar whose innovations have advanced film as an art. 

Director Ava DuVernay, actress Halle Berry, director Ryan Murphy and Dr. Eric Esrailian were the co-chairs for the evening.  


Lebanese filmmaker turns archival footage into a love letter to Beirut

Updated 28 February 2026
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Lebanese filmmaker turns archival footage into a love letter to Beirut

LONDON: Lebanese filmmaker Lana Daher’s debut feature “Do You Love Me” is a love letter of sorts to Beirut, composed entirely of archival material spanning seven decades across film, television, home videos and photography.

The film premiered at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in September and has since traveled to several regional and international festivals.

Pink Smoke (2020) by Ben Hubbard. (Supplied)

With minimal dialogue, the film relies heavily on image and sound to reconstruct Lebanon’s fragmented history.

“By resisting voiceover and autobiography, I feel like I had to trust the image and the shared emotional landscape of these archives to carry the meaning,” Daher said.

A Suspended Life (Ghazal el-Banat) (1985) by Jocelyne Saab. (Supplied)

She explained that in a city like Beirut “where trauma is rarely private,” the socio-political context becomes the atmosphere of the film, with personal memory expanding into a collective experience — “a shared terrain of emotional history.”

Daher said: “By using the accumulated visual representations of Beirut, I was, in a way, rewriting my own representation of home through images that already existed."

Whispers (1980) by Maroun Bagdadi. (Supplied)

Daher, with editor Qutaiba Barhamji, steered clear of long sequences, preferring individual shots that allowed them to “reassemble meaning” while maintaining the integrity of their own work and respecting the original material, she explained.

The film does not feature a voice-over, an intentional decision that influenced the use of sound, music, and silence.

The Boombox (1995) by Fouad Elkoury. (Supplied)

“By resisting the urge to fill every space with dialogue or score, we created room for discomfort,” Daher said, adding that silence allows the audience to sit with the image and enter its emotional space rather than being guided too explicitly.

 The film was a labor of love, challenging Daher personally and professionally.

“When you draw from personal memory, you’re not just directing scenes, you’re revisiting parts of yourself and your childhood,” she said. “There’s vulnerability in that.”