The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF) is to honour two acclaimed filmmakers with Career Achievement Awards for their outstanding contributions to cinema – the French-Algerian director Rachid Bouchareb and the American producer Edward R Pressman.
In addition, the Jordanian director Naji Abu Nowar has been chosen to receive the Variety Arab Filmmaker of the Year Award.
Bouchareb's films Dust of Life (1995), Days of Glory (2006) and Outside the Law (2010) were nominated for Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
His latest film, Two Men in Town, starring Forest Whitaker as an ex-convict and Muslim convert, is screening at ADFF as part of this year's Showcase. The festival will also host a public conversation with Bouchareb on October 24.
Pressman has been involved in making more than 80 films during a 30-year career, including Wall Street, Badlands, Das Boot, American Psycho, Talk Radio and City Hall.
The awards will be presented during the opening event at Emirates Palace tomorrow.
Nowar's debut feature Theeb, which received support from ADFF's Sanad fund during development and post-production, won the Orizzonti Award for Best Director at this year's Venice Film Festival, screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and is competing in ADFF's New Horizons category.
