The 77th Cannes Film Festival concluded last night with the Palme d’Or going to Sean Baker’s Anora. Emerging talents and seasoned storytellers from the Middle East also received significant accolades.
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig claimed the Special Prize in the main competition. Egyptian documentary filmmakers Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir's The Brink of Dreams earned the esteemed L'Oeil d'Or, while Saudi newcomer Tawfik Alzaidi's Norah was celebrated with a Special Mention in the Un Certain Regard category.
Rasoulof fled Iran this month after being sentenced to eight years in prison and is now living in a safe house in Germany. The director has frequently been targeted by Iranian authorities for the nature of his films.
Rasoulof told a press conference after arriving in Cannes: “My only message to Iranian cinema is 'don’t be afraid of intimidation and censorship in Iran'. They’re afraid. They’re afraid and they want us to feel afraid.”
The Seed of the Sacred Fig tells the story of a family man named Iman, played by Missagh Zareh, who has been appointed an investigator for the Iranian authorities, a job that will put him in direct conflict with his wife and two daughters. Running at nearly three hours, the film received a standing ovation at its premiere at the festival, with the audience also cheering lines of dialogue during the screening.
Egyptian documentary The Brink of Dreams, meanwhile, follows the Panorama Barsha Troupe, an all-female group of young Egyptian dancers who all have dreams of pursuing careers in theatre and the arts. The film captures a period of transition, as the protagonists grow from girls into young women.
In an interview with The National, El Amir said: “At the beginning of the film they are free, and they could be anything that they wish to be, but in the end, they are taking decisions that will make them as a person.”
Alzaidi's Norah earned a Special Mention from the Cannes jury in the Un Certain Regard category. The category, established in 1978, runs parallel to the festival's long-running Palme d'Or competition and aims to recognise emerging talent and non-traditional narratives. The nomination of Norah was significant due to it being the first film from Saudi Arabia to be entered in an official selection at the festival.
Set in the 1990s, Norah takes place before the pursuit of art was publicly supported by the kingdom. The story follows a failed artist turned schoolteacher, played by Yaqoub Alfarhan, who helps a young girl, played by Maria Bahrawi, realise her potential in an oppressive rural environment.
The recognition of these three films underscores the increasing prominence of Middle Eastern cinema on the global stage. The films offer compelling narratives that resonate with audiences worldwide, showcasing the diverse talent and creative vision emerging from the region.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
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MATCH INFO
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Brighton 1 (Maupay 17')
Man of the match: Ben White (Brighton)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The biog
Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed
Age: 34
Emirate: Dubai
Favourite quote: "No one has ever become poor by giving"
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Essentials
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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RESULTS: 2018 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING - EUROPE
Albania 0 Italy 1
Finland 2 Turkey 2
Macedonia 4 Liechtenstein
Iceland 2 Kosovo 0
Israel 0 Spain 1
Moldova 0 Austria 1
Serbia 1 Georgia 0
Ukraine 0 Croatia 2
Wales 0 Ireland 1
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