Arab cinema wins big at Sundance

An Egyptian revolution thriller and a documentary about the Syrian conflict won at the Sundance Film Festival Saturday, even as the awards show opened with a sideways dig at President Donald Trump’s order suspending the arrival of refugees and tough new controls on travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Swedish-Egyptian Tarik Saleh’s “The Nile Hilton Incident” came away with the grand jury prize for world drama while Syrian filmmaker Feras Fayyad’s “Last Men in Aleppo,” about the Syrian conflict, won the world cinema documentary competition.
Saleh’s political thriller revolves around a cop investigating the murder of a beautiful singer in the days leading up to the 2011 revolution that would eventually oust President Hosni Mubarak. The cast of the film includes Fares Fares, Mari Malek, Mohamed Yousry, Yaser Aly Maher, Ahmed Seleem, Hania Amar and Ger Duany.
Fayyad’s heartbreaking documentary offers powerful insights into the courageous rescue work of the White Helmet volunteers.
Sundance Institute head Keri Putnam told the audience she wanted to “acknowledge the artists from Muslim majority countries who joined us at the festival this year.”
“I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore,” a movie long on ambition and longer in title, came away with the top prize as the festival wrapped Saturday.
Many critics have pointed out that this year’s festival was more overtly political than in previous years.
The US dramatic audience award — the second prize to the grand jury award — went to Matt Ruskin’s “Crown Heights,” the story of a man fighting to clear his name after being wrongly convicted of a crime.
The Sundance Film Festival founded by actor Robert Redford is considered a showcase for independent and documentary films and festival winners often go on to receive critical acclaim and Hollywood awards season glory.

Source: Arab News