Fatma Al-Ghanim is a Qatari athlete and filmmaker who is breaking new ground for women in the tiny country and in the Arab world at large. In 2010, she captained Qatar’s first-ever women’s national soccer team. Now, Al-Ghanim is at the Tribeca Film Festival with “Theatre of Dreams,” a powerful short that marks her directorial and […]

Leading Middle East streamer MBC Shahid has picked up Lebanese comedian John Achkar’s stand-up comedy special “Tryin’” (“Aam Jarrib”) filmed at Paris’ legendary L’Olympia concert hall in what is being touted as a milestone for Arabic stand-up comedy. Achkar’s performance of “Tryin’,” filmed in Paris on Oct. 23, marked the first-ever Arabic-language performance by a […]

Oscar-winning Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore will be honored during the upcoming Taormina Film Festival with the Golden Globes Prize for Documentary in partnership with Artemis Rising Foundation for his docufilm “Brunello: The Gracious Visionary” about Brunello Cucinelli, the fashion designer known as Italy’s “King of Cashmere.” Tornatore will receive the award in Taormina’s large open-air ancient […]

Shivani Pandya Malhotra has stepped down as general manager of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival after playing an instrumental role in building the event from scratch and, over the course of five editions, turning it into one of the Arab world’s most prominent festivals and the top movie market in the MENA [Middle East and North […]

In a significant reversal, Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-nominated feature “The Voice of Hind Rajab” has been cleared by India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) that had blocked the politically sensitive film’s release in March. After weeks of controversy in India over its initial censorship of the film – which tells the real story of […]

Pope Leo XIV on Monday launched an impassioned call for regulation of Artificial Intelligence, warning that “opaque algorithms,” controlled by a handful of powerful private companies, can bring “new forms of dehumanization.” In his eagerly awaited new encyclical called “Magnificent Humanity” – an encyclical is an ancient form of Vatican communication – Pope Leo also […]

Italian authorities have canceled upcoming concerts by Kanye West and Travis Scott that had been scheduled to take place in July in the northern city of Reggio Emilia, citing security concerns. West, now known as Ye, was scheduled to headline the Hellwat Festival on July 18 at the RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia. The venue […]

Italian auteur Alice Rohrwacher, known for her magical realist works “The Wonders,” “Happy as Lazzaro” and “La Chimera” —  all of which competed at Cannes Film Festival — is set to direct a feature film adaptation of Italo Calvino’s coming-of-age fable “The Baron in the Trees.” One of the most celebrated books in 20th century […]

As Israel steps up air strikes in Lebanon, Beirut’s beloved Metropolis Cinema – championed by Lebanese filmmakers as an indie cinema beacon amid bombings, despair and dysfunction – has announced it is forging ahead with the second edition of its South Screens (Écrans du Sud) festival. “In times shaped by war, silence, and uncertainty, we […]

Saudi action thriller “7 Dogs” about a global crime syndicate that is trafficking a lethal new drug called Pink Lady across the Middle East – and stars Monica Bellucci as Giulia Leoni, the head of the mobsters’ distribution network – has scored an impressive more than $7 million first frame across the Middle East and […]

Tehran’s Revolutionary Court has upheld a one-year prison sentence against Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi who in December had been sentenced in absentia on charges of engaging in propaganda activities against the Iranian state. Panahi’s lawyer Mostafa Nili announced the decision by the court to reject the director’s appeal during a press briefing in Tehran on […]

The Italian premiere of the first episode of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” Season 3 has been set as opener of Italy’s upcoming Taormina Film Festival that will run June 10-14 in the Sicilian sea resort. “House of the Dragon” stars Steve Toussaint (Lord Corlys Velaryon), Harry Collett (Jacaerys Velaryon), Bethany Antonia (Baela Targaryen) and […]