MBC's Shahid picks up two International Emmy nominations

‘Every Week has a Friday’ and ‘Beirut 6:07’ have both been nominated for an award

Egyptian actress Menna Shalaby has been nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in the International Emmy for her role in 'Every Week Has a Friday'. AFP

Two shows from MBC’s Arabic streaming service Shahid have received International Emmy nominations.

Menna Shalaby has been nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in the dark Egyptian crime-drama Every Week Has a Friday.

Cairo International Film Festival president Mohamed Hefzy, who is a co-producer of the show, took to Facebook to congratulate Shalaby and the rest of the team.

“This is big! Big for me… for the team of [production house] Meem… for Film Factory… big for Egypt… for Shahid… for director Mohamed Shaker… but most of all it’s huge for Menna Shalaby. Mabrouk Menna and my partners and friends.”

Every Week Has a Friday was a big hit with viewers, too. The show has an 8.4 out of 10 rating on IMDb based on about 2,000 reviews. Salaby’s performance as the mysterious Layla has won particular praise, along with that of her co-star Asser Yassin, who plays her autistic housemate.

Meanwhile Beirut 6:07, a moving anthology of 15 short films telling the stories of the victims and survivors of last year’s horrific explosion in the Lebanese capital’s port, has been nominated in the Short-Form Series category.

Beirut 6:07 brought together some of Lebanon’s leading directors, many of whom had themselves lost property, possessions, or friends and family in the August 4 blast.

Among other nominations of note this year are three Indian successes - for satirical drama Serious Men, actor-comedian Vir Das and crime drama Aarya.

Former Dr Who David Tennant, meanwhile, is sure to be a hot favourite with his nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in the ITV serial killer biopic Des, in which he played the notorious Scottish murderer Dennis Nilsen.