Top Talents Recognised At Gulf Film Festival

Awards Ceremony Honors Best in Local and Regional Cinema

The Gulf Film Festival (GFF) came to a close with a glittering awards ceremony that recognized the best in local and regional cinema, including presentations to the three honorees for the inaugural edition. The 6 day event showcased 146 films from 25 countries in all categories.

The Festival’s esteemed jury comprising Egyptian director Daoud Abdel Sayed, Iraqi film critic Mr. Erfan Rashid;Omani filmmaker and critic Abdullah Habib; UAE actor Ahmed Al Jasmi and Nadira Ardjoun, co-organiser of the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival awarded the top prizes in the categories of feature, shorts and documentary in the Official Competition, as well as short and documentary in the Students’ Competition.

Kuwaiti novelist Ismail Fahad Ismail, scriptwriter Rashid al-Jobar from Bahrain, and writer/director Naji al Hai from the UAE comprised the jury that selected the award winning scripts in the Emirates Script Competition.

Dubai Abdullah Abulhoul, the 11 year old film protégé from the UAE was recognized as the Youngest Filmmaker in the Festival, GFF Special Recognition for her debut animation “Galagolia”.

The winners of the Script Competition for Emirati Short Films are ;

1. Third prize went to “Al Ghawi” by Abdullah Hassan Ahmed and Yousef Ibrahim
2. Second Prize went to “The Rooster” by Omar Ibrahim
3. First prize was awarded to Ismail Abdullah’s “Al Mansiyyah”

The prizes in the Documentary Competition Award for Students were as follows:

1. The Special Mention in this category was awarded to “Access Denied” by UAE’s Nawar Al Shamsi.
2. Third prize was awarded to “A Candle for the Shabandar Café” by Iraqi Imad Ali.
3. Second prize went to “Mission of Hope” by Aisha Al Muhairi and Asma Ahmed from the UAE
4. First Prize to “Leaving” by Bahram Al Zuhairi from Iraq

The Short Competition Awards by students were won by the following:

1. The special jury prize in this segment went to “The Sea Hides” by Hamad Abdulla Saghran from the UAE.
2. Third prize went to “White and White” by Bader Al Homoud from Saudi Arabia.
3. Second prize went to Iraq’s “Personal Calendar” by Basheer Al Majid
4. First prize went to “Realism Beats” by Dawood Al Kiyumi and Yasir Al Kiyumi from Oman.

The prizes for official short films in competition were as follows:

1. The Special Mentions went to UAE filmmakers Sameer Karam for his Cinematography in “Tenbak” and Nevin Madhi for her role in “Bint Mariam”.
2. Third prize went to “Belooh” by Amer Al Rawas from Oman
3. Second Prize was awarded to “Bint Mariam” by Saeed Salmeen Al Murry from the UAE.
4. First prize went to “Tenbak” by Abdullah Hassan Ahmed from the UAE

Winners of the official documentary competition included:

1. Special Mentions went to “Nights of Gypsy’s Descent” by Hadi Mahmood from Iraq and “Al Mureed” by Nujoom Al Ghanem from the UAE.
2. Third prize went to Oday Salah’s “One Day in Khadimya Prison for Women” from Iraq.
3. UAE’s Nasser Al Yakoubi won the second prize for “Moutain Sheikh”
4. First prize went to Amer Al Zuhair from Kuwait for “When The People Spoke- Part Two”,

Special jury prize in the official competition went to “www.gilgamesh.21’ by Iraqi Tariq Hashim.

The top honours in the official feature films competition went to Iraq and Bahrain:

1. Special Mention was presented to Rashid Al Shamrani for his role and script in Sabah Allil from Saudi Arabia.
2. “Four Girls” by Hussain Abbas Al Hulaibi from Bahrain was awarded the second prize.
3. The first prize went to Iraqi film “Ahlaam” by Mohammed Al Daradji.

Kuwiat’s Abdul Hussain Al Reda and Saad al Faraj and the UAE’s Ali Al Abdool were presented with their Lifetime Achievements Awards during the ceremony.

Abdul Hussain Abdul Reda the legendry actor from Kuwait is regarded as one of the most famous actors in the GCC region, ruling the charts in the 70’s and 80’s with a series of well crafted theatre plays and TV series. Saad Al Faraaj, the famous Kuwaiti actor is one of the major contributors to the drama movement in Kuwait. He has written several books on the evolution of performing arts in Kuwait and received various national, regional and international awards. Considered one of the first TV Directors from the UAE, Ali Al Abdool is the creative genius behind the video clips of many of Arab world’s renowned singing talent.

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