The Blue Caftan

Source: Les films du Nouveau Monde - Ali n’ Productions - Velvet Films - Snowglobe

‘The Blue Caftan’

Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan leads the nominations in the 7th Critics Awards for Arab Films, which has added categories for best editing, cinematography and music.

The Arabic-language drama, in which a woman and her closeted gay husband hire a young apprentice at their caftan store, secured seven nominations – every category except editing and documentary. The film premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year and was Morocco’s submission for the international feature film Oscar, making the shortlist but not final nominations.

A strong showing of four nominations was also secured by Erige Sehiri’s Under The Fig Trees, which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes and was Tunisia’s submission for the Oscar.

Overseen and run by the Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (ACC), this edition of the awards focused on Arab films that premiered on the festival circuit outside of the Arab world in 2022.

It was voted on by 193 critics from 72 countries and the winners will be announced during the Cannes Film Festival (May 16-27).

“This year, we have expanded the jury and introduced three new award categories to recognise and shine a light on even more film industry professionals,” said ACC co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab. “Each year, we’d like to see the awards grow bigger and bigger.”

Previous best film winners include The Last Days Of The City (2017), Wajib (2018), Yomeddine (2019), It Must Be Heaven (2020), Gaza Mon Amour (2021) and Feathers (2022).

7th Critics Awards for Arab Films nominations

Best Film

  • The Blue Caftan (Mor) dir. Maryam Touzani
  • Hanging Gardens (Iraq) dir. Ahmed Yassin Aldaradji
  • Alam (Pal) dir. Firas Khoury

Best Actor

  • Adam Bessa, Harka (Tun)
  • Saleh Bakri, The Blue Caftan (Pal)
  • Hussain Mohammad Jaleel, Hanging Gardens (Iraq)

Best Actress

  • Lubna Azabal, The Blue Caftan (Mor)
  • Clara Couturet, Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous (Eth)
  • Fatma Oussaifi, Ashkal (Tun)

Best Director

  • Youssef Chebbi, Ashkal (Tun)
  • Maryam Touzani, The Blue Caftan (Mor)
  • Erige Sehiri, Under The Fig Trees (Tun)

Best Screenplay

  • Erige Sehiri, Under The Fig Trees (Tun)
  • Maryam Touzani-Nabil Ayouch, The Blue Caftan (Mor)
  • Soudade Kaadan, Nezouh (Syria)

Best Cinematography

  • Frida Marzouk, Under The Fig Trees (Tun)
  • Pierre Aïm, Queens (Fr)
  • Virginie Surdej, The Blue Caftan (Pol)

Best Editing

  • Julie Léna, Queens
  • Valentin Féron, Ashkal
  • Sophie Corra, Thomas Niles, Harka

Best Music

  • Eli Keszler, Harka (US)
  • Amin Bouhafa, Under The Fig Trees (Tun)
  • Kristian Eidnes Andersen, The Blue Caftan (Den)

Best Documentary

  • Foragers, Jumana Manna(Pal)
  • Sirens, Rita Baghdadi (Leb)
  • My Lost Country, Ishtar Yasin Gutierrez (Iraq)

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