Mauritanian film wins Paris Fest award

The jury of the sixth Arab Cinema Festival in Paris handed out its grand prize for best long narrative film to Mauritanian director Abdel Rahman Sisaco for his film Heremakono “Waiting for Happiness” which is a joint French Mauritanian production, according to the London-based Arabic daily al Sharq al Awsat. 

The jury handed out the prize for best short film to director Leez Salem for her film Jan Fares which is a joint Algerian French production. As for the prize for first narrative long film, it was handed to the Algerian director Yamina Bashir for her film Rashida, while the Syrian director Osama Mohammed won the special jury prize for his film Sundouq al Dunia (life box). 

Egyptian actor Mahmoud Abdel Aziz won the prize for best actor for his role in the film al Saher (the magician) by the late director Radwan al Kashef, while Bernadit Hadib from Lebanon won the prize for best actress for her role in the film Lama Hekiet Merriam (when Merriam talked) directed by Asad Foldker. 

In the documentary film contest the Palestinian director Mai al Massri won the grand prize for her long documentary film Ahlam al Manfa (exile dreams), while the Palestinian director Mary Jarjour won the prize for best short film for her film Balad Blanch.  

The special jury prize for best documentary long film went to the Palestinian director Rashid Mashharawi for his film “From Palestine, Live Broadcast” while the special jury prize for best short film went to Carol Mansour from Lebanon for her film “100 Percent Bitumen” -- Albawaba.com