Arab cinema snatched three important awards in the “Un Certain Regard” competition, during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival (May 17-27, 2023).
The jury award went to the Moroccan film Gangs, directed by Kamal Lazraq, which tells an interesting and touching story of a father and his son trying to get rid of a dead body, highlighting the story of a number of criminals.
It is a film about which the jury members said that it “opens our eyes to realities we live every day.”
The jury, headed by American actor John C. Reilly, awarded the “Freedom Award” to the Sudanese film Farewell Julia, directed by Sudan’s Mohamed Kordofani.
The head of the jury said about the movie “Goodbye Julia” that it tells people about freedom, noting that this award is a tribute to the resistance fighters against all forms of racism and power and an invitation to tell the truth, describing the Sudanese work as a “bright and enjoyable movie.”
Krodofani expressed his happiness that Sudan won an award for the first time at the Cannes Film Festival, saying: “I am proud that I am Sudanese, greetings to the Sudanese people.”
Moroccan director Asmaa El Moudir won the Directing Award for her feature film “White Lies”.
It is the work in which the director touched on the bread uprising in 1981, in which much blood was shed.
For her part, Asmaa Al-Mudir said that she had worked on this film for ten years and that this work would not have been possible without the role played by her parents.
Arab films entered the official competition for “Un Certain Regard”, which witnessed the participation of 22 international feature films.
Kordofani and Lazraq’s chances are still open to winning the “Golden Camera” award, which is awarded every year to a director who participates in Cannes with his first feature film.
The jury awarded the “Promising Voice” award to director Balouhi for his film “Ogura” from the Republic of the Congo.
The directors of the Brazilian film “Borini Flower”, Joao Salaveza and Rene Masura, won the Integrated Work Award.
The ceremony began with a short film that remembers the child victims of the war in Ukraine, in a new tradition adopted by the festival management.
For the first time in the history of a look competition, 6 different prizes are being awarded since the competition was established in 1978.
The jury consisted of American actor John C. Reilly, in addition to French director and writer Alice Winokour, German actress Paula Bree, French-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chu, and Belgian actress Emily Deakin.
