12th Annual Arab Film Festival Announces Winners on Opening Night
(Photos: www.sawanimages.com)
On Opening Night, Thursday October 16th, the 2008 Arab Film Festival Jury announced the recipients of the Noor Awards:
Noor Award for Best Feature Fiction
PALOMA DELIGHT (Algeria) — Nadir Mokneche
Special Mention for Best Feature Fiction
THE YELLOW HOUSE (Algeria) — Amor Hakkar
Noor Award for Best Short Fiction
CLEAN HANDS, DIRTY SOAP (Egypt) — Karim Fanous
Special Mention for Best Short Fiction
TENBAK (UAE) — Abdullah Hassan Ahmed
Noor Award for Best Feature Documentary
LIFE AFTER THE FALL (Iraq) — Kasim Abid
Noor Award for Best Short Documentary
OUT OF THE FRAME (Iraq) — Nizar Annadawi
Michel Shehadeh presents a Lifetime Achievement award, on behalf of the Board of Directors, honoring the work of the late Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine.
(Photo: www.sawanimages.com)
2008 Jury Members:
Nezar AlSayyad is an architect, a planner, an urban designer and an urban historian. He is also a returning member of the Noor Awards Jury. He is a professor of Architecture and Planning at UC Berkeley where he serves as the Associate Dean for the College of Environmental Design and Chairs the University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
Jamal Dajani is the Senior Director of Middle East Programming for LinkTV where he produces the Peabody Award winning news show, Mosaic: World News from the Middle East. He is also host of the TV news program Mosaic Intelligence Report and co-host of the radio news show Arab Talk with Jess and Jamal. He also serves as Chair of the Immigrant Rights Commission of the City and County of San Francisco.
Dr. Jess Ghannam is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Global Health Sciences at UCSF. He is also the President of the San Francisco Arab Cultural and Community Center and former President of the SF Chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. He can also be heard on KPOO co-hosting the talk radio show Arab Talk with Jess and Jamal.
Irina Leimbacher is a filmmaker and co-programmer of Kino 21, which showcases independent films in San Francisco Cinemas. She is also a professor in the Anthropology Department at UC Berkeley where she has taught the Ethnographic Filmmaking. She has also worked as a curator for film institutions such as the San Francisco Cinematheque, for which she also served as Artistic Director, and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley.
Simone Nelson is an artist, producer and entertainment industry consultant. She has worked for many local and international arts agencies including: Film Arts Foundation, the Mill Valley Film Festival and the Global Film Initiative. She is also the President of the Board of Director’s for BAWIFT (Bay Area Women in Film & Television).
Torange Yeghiazarian, a playwright, director and actor, is the founding Artist Director of Golden Thread Theatre. Through her position at Golden Thread Theatre she has devoted her professional life to exploring Middle Eastern culture and identity through theatre arts. She also teaches playwriting to at risk youth as a part of the program Each One Reach One.
(from Left to right) Nezar AlSayyad, Jamal Dajani, Torange Yeghiazarian, Simone Nelson, Dr. Jess Ghannam.
(Photo: www.sawanimages.com)
