Revived Paris Arab Cinemas Festival rewards emerging talent

A festival of cinema from the Middle East and Gulf, organised by, and at, the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris has been revived. The 10-day Festival des Cinémas Arabes programmed films from across the Arabic-culture countries, giving a boost to the Institute's regular cinema programme. At a lively ceremony at the Institut on 8 July, prizes rewarded emerging talents especially.

The Festival des Cinémas Arabes awards at the Arab World Institute (IMA) in Paris were as follows:

Fiction category:

• Joint winners of the short and medium features: Affability by Ahmad Nader (Egypt, 2017) and Land Of Our Fathers by Ulaa Salim (Iraq, 2017)
• IMA award for best actress: Zahraa Ghandour in The Journey by Mohamed Jabarah Al Daradji (Iraq/Qatar/France/The Netherlands/UK, 2017)
• IMA award for best actor : a collective award to the castof The Lunch by Lucien Bourjeily, (Lebanon, 2017)
• IMA/TV5MONDE award for first feature: Benzine by Sarra Abidi (Tunisia, 2017
• Jury Special/Hyatt Paris Madeleine feature award: The Lunch by Lucien Bourjeily, (Lebanon, 2017)
• IMA Grand Prix/BMCE Bank feature award: The Journey by Mohamed Jabarah Al Daradji (Iraq/Qatar/France/The Netherlands/UK, 2017)

Documentary category:-

• Jury's Special Short and Medium Documentary award: And an Image was Born by Firas Khoury (Palestine, 2017)
• Sculpting in time by Youssef Nasser (Egypt, 2017)
• IMA Short and Medium Documentary award: Train-trains 2 : A Bypass by Rania Stephan (Lebanon, 2017)
• Jury's Special Prize with Titra Film for Documentary Feature : Of Sheep and Menby Karim Sayad(Algeria/Qatar/France/Switzerland, 2017)
• Grand Prix IMA/ El Gouna Film Festivalfor Documentary Feature: The Band by Albaqer Jafeer (Iraq/Lebanon, 2017)