Araf/Somewhere in Between, directed by Turkey’s Yesim Ustaglu, won the Black Pearl Award for best narrative film at the close of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival (Oct 11-20). Nouri Bouzid took best director from the Arab world for Hidden Beauties, about two Tunisian women demanding their rights during the revolution.

Other winners in the Narrative Feature competition include Manoel de Oliveira’s Gebo and the Shadow, which took the Special Jury Award; Gael García Bernal, who won best actor for his performance in Chile-US co-production No, and Franziska Petri, who took best actress for Russian feature Betrayal.

Meanwhile, in the New Horizons competition for first and second-time directors, the Black Pearl award went to A Respectable Family, from Iran’s Massoud Bakhshi, while Annemarie Jacir’s When I Saw You took the award for best film from the Arab World.

Best director from the Arab World went to Egyptian filmmaker Hala Lotfy, for Coming Forth By Day, which was recognised for its “unusual and stylish visuals” and also picked up a FIPRESCI award.

Best Actor went to Soren Malling for A Hijacking (Denmark) and best actress to Golshifteh Farahani for her performance in The Patience Stone (Afghanistan-France-Germany), which she carries almost alone.

Indian actress Shabana Azmi was president of the Narrative Feature competition jury, which also included Cedomir Kolar, Samir Farid, Niki Karimi and IIsmael Ferroukhi.

The New Horizons jury was headed by French editor Françoise Bonnot and also included Giorgio Gosetti, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Mohamed Jabarah Al Daradji and Nawaf Al-Janahi.

The Black Pearl Award for best documentary went to A World Not Ours, directed by Mahdi Fleifel, which also won prizes from the FIPRESCI and NETPAC juries. The Lebanon-UK-UAE co-production documents life in the Palestinian refugee camps.

Narrative Feature Competition

Black Pearl Award - Best Narrative Film:

Araf/Somewhere in Between, directed by Yeşim Ustağlu (Turkey, Germany, France)

Special Jury Award:

Gebo and the Shadow, directed by Manoel de Oliveira (Portugal, France)

Best Director from the Arab World:

Nouri Bouzid, Hidden Beauties (Tunisia, France, UAE)

Best Actor: Gael García Bernal, No (Chile, US)

Best Actress: Franziska Petri, Betrayal (Russia)

New Horizons Competition

Black Pearl Award – New Horizons:

A Respectable Family, directed by Massoud Bakhshi (France, Iran)

Special Jury Award:

Beasts of the Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin (US)

Best Film from the Arab World:

When I Saw You, directed by Annemarie Jacir (Jordan, Palestine, UAE)

Best Director from the Arab World:

Hala Lotfy, Coming Forth By Day (Egypt, UAE)

Best Actor:

Søren Malling, A Hijacking (Denmark)

Best Actress:

Golshifteh Farahani, The Patience Stone (Afghanistan, France, Germany)

Special Mention:

A Hijacking, directed by Tobias Lindholm

Documentary Feature Competition

Black Pearl Award – Best Documentary Film:

A World Not Ours, directed by Mahdi Fleifel (Lebanon, UK, UAE)

Special Jury Award:

Stories We Tell, directed by Sarah Polley (Canada)

Best New Director:

Lyubov Arkus, Anton’s Right Here (Russia)

Best Film from the Arab World:

Cursed Be the Phosphate, directed by Sami Tlili (Tunisia, UAE, Lebanon, Qatar)

Best Director from the Arab World:

Wael Omar and Philippe Dib, In Search of Oil and Sand (Egypt, UAE)

Audience Choice Award:

Saving Face, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Daniel Junge (Pakistan, US)

FIPRESCI Awards:

Coming Forth by Day, directed by Hala Lotfy (Egypt, UAE)

A World Not Ours, directed by Mahdi Fleifel (Lebanon, UK, UAE)

NETPAC Award:

A World Not Ours, directed by Mahdi Fleifel (Lebanon, UK, UAE)

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